7:31
by SasuSaku Forever and Ever
Summary: o31: Sakura wants to see the fireworks with Sasuke. And little by little, their chemistry grows.
1. Conversation

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo1: Something's bothering Sasuke. And Sakura doesn't know what. All she wants is to hold up a conversation with him, but he won't say anything!

* * *

**.oo1.  
**_Conversation_

"Talk to me," Sakura said, leaning over the couch to put her hand on Sasuke's forearm. "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing's bothering me," he said, shrugging her off. He didn't want to be touched by her right now.

"Yes, there _is_," she stressed. "There's something that's bugging you but you won't tell me what it is! Just share it with me. You'll feel much better, Sasuke-kun."

"Sakura," he said, raising his voice. He turned to look at her, his eyebrows furrowing. "I _don't _want to talk about it."

She was taken aback, obviously startled by his emotions. She had never seen the angry side of Sasuke at her while they were dating.

"Alright." She stood up from the sofa and brushed her skirt off. "Well," she said, taking her things. She felt the sting of tears behind her eyes, trying not to let him see them. "I'll go home, now. Take care, Sasuke-kun."

She slung her purse over her shoulder and turned the doorknob, walking out of his apartment. Sasuke opened his mouth, wanting to call her back to stay with him, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He sighed, throwing himself out on the full length of the sofa, and put a hand to his forehead.

"Shit," he mumbled.

.

.

.

"I don't know what's wrong with him," Sakura sobbed as she called Naruto. "He's never acted like this before. I'm really worried, Naruto," she choked out through her tears.

She could hear his soothing tone through the phone. "Shh, Sakura-chan. It's okay. He's probably having one of his Sasuke days…"

"See, that's not it! I've been with him for a long time. I know who he is. This isn't just a Sasuke day. It's something else. He's obviously got something on his mind and he won't share it with me!" she sniffed. "I love him, Naruto."

Naruto paused. She could hear his breathing through the line. "Why don't you give him some time? Or, perhaps, I could talk to him for you."

"Y-You would do that?" she said, perking up.

"Of course! We're all pals, aren't we?" his cheery voice made her crack a half-smile.

"Thanks, Naruto."

"Sure, Sakura-chan. Now, I've got to go. Hinata-chan's cooking up some of that delicious ramen that I love!"

"Yeah, I know. Bon appetit," Sakura said. She pressed the _End _button and sighed, sinking back into her seat.

.

.

.

Naruto was brooding while he ate his ramen. Hinata, his fiancée, took off her apron and gave him a worried look.

"Is everything okay, Naruto-kun? Do you not like it?"

"No, I love it!" he said, giving her a huge grin. "It's just about Sakura-chan and teme."

"W-What's wrong with them? Are they having some relationship issues?"

"Probably. Sakura-chan's worried because teme's weird. I mean, I _know _he's weird, but this is the kind of weird that's got her on edge and in tears."

"Oh." Hinata put down her chopsticks. "Do you want to go talk to him?"

"I think I should." He got up from his chair, but then sat back down. "But first, I want to finish all of your great ramen, Hinata-chan." He winked at her, and she blushed.

"Itadakimasu," she said.

.

.

.

"Dobe," Sasuke said, a little surprised Naruto was at his door at this hour.

"Teme. Can I come in?"

"I guess." Sasuke opened the door wider for Naruto to step in. He noticed the air faintly smelled like Sakura, still fairly strong. She had only left about an hour ago.

"Do you want anything?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook his head. "I just want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Sakura."

Sasuke's face turned into a grimace. "Look, Naruto, I know that she probably talked to you. And that you're here to talk to me to find out what my 'secret' is. But listen. It's nothing. Nothing important, and I don't want to talk to you or anybody else about it."

"Sasuke—"

"Get out, Naruto."

Sasuke pushed Naruto to the door, ready to close the door on him, when Naruto shouted out, "She loves you!"

He froze. Naruto's foot stopped the door and he let himself back in.

"She loves you a lot, Sasuke." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "And I can see that you love her, too."

_I do love her_.

"I always have," Sasuke admitted, not making eye contact with Naruto.

"And I bet she has, too. Now, you need to sort things out with her. Talk to her. She's really upset right now and though you're the cause of her tears, you're also the only one who can fix them. Now go."

Naruto turned to leave. He was halfway down the staircase when Sasuke shouted out, "Dobe!"

The blonde froze. "Yeah?" he called, looking up at Sasuke, leaning over the railing. He saw the trademark smirk Sasuke always gave.

"Thanks."

Naruto saluted him with two fingers, and then continued walking down the steps.

.

.

.

Sasuke struggled to find the spare key into Sakura's apartment.

"Where is it?" he muttered to himself as he went through his keychain. His fingers were clumsy at handling small objects, unlike Sakura's.

"Finally," he said as he turned the right key in the keyhole. He opened the door, expecting her warm scent to envelop him. Instead, all he smelled was sake and other alcohol.

"S-Sasuke-kun," Sakura droned, clumsily walking towards him with a bottle in her hand. "W-What are you…you doing…" she stringed her words along, unable to form a complete sentence.

Sasuke cursed. It was worse than he thought. She only got drunk when she was _really _upset.

"Sit down, Sakura," he said, leading her to a chair.

"No! I wanna…I wanna dance on the rooftop. Do you wanna dance? Let's dance, come on!" she said, taking his hands and leading him to her bedroom window.

"No, Sakura. Sit." He lifted her up and carried her to the nearest armchair. She groaned and spread herself out on the chair.

"What're you doing here?" she slurred.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"So…so talk," she said, twirling her hands back and forth like a conductor.

He sighed. "This isn't going to work out."

"What's not going to work out? Our relationship?"

"No, your current state. We'll talk when you're sober. Come on." He carried her in his arms again, back to her bedroom where they had made love so many times before.

"I don't wanna go to sleep," she moaned. "I want more sake."

"No, Sakura." He put her gently on the bed and lifted the covers to her chin. "Now just relax. If you need to throw up, just call me and I'll get you a trashcan. I'll stay here. I won't leave. I promise." He paused, not sure what to do, and then leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Good night, Sakura."

"N-Nighty night," she slurred.

Sasuke shook his head. Then, he sat down on the rocking chair she had in the corner of her room. He watched for a couple seconds, making sure she was okay, and then closed his own eyes and drifted off to sleep.

.

.

.

The familiar buzz of her alarm clock woke her up. She reached for it, banging her hand on the dresser in order to stop the beeping.

"Fuck," she muttered, holding her head. "I have the most _massive _hangover."

She looked down to see that she was still in her clothes from yesterday and that her breath smelled awful. Looking over, she saw Sasuke, sleeping in her rocking chair.

"Sasuke…?" she whispered.

Then, the hazy memories came back to her.

"Shit," she cursed. "Shit, shit, shit!"

She put on some fresh clothes and brushed her teeth. Looking at her drunken reflection in the mirror, she groaned.

"I'm in such deep shit right now."

.

.

.

"Good morning," Sasuke said as he walked towards her kitchen where she was trying to make breakfast as quietly as possible.

"Oh!" she turned around, surprised by him. "Hi."

"Hey."

She leaned back on the countertop. He leaned forward, putting his hands on either side of her.

"So," he said. "Feeling better?"

"You mean…the hangover?"

"Yeah."

"I've felt better," she said. She quickly turned to work on breakfast again, flustered.

He turned off the stove.

"Hey!" she shouted. "I was using that!"

"Too bad. Breakfast can wait. He took her hand and led her to the armchair where she was drunkenly sitting the night before. She plopped down on the seat. Sasuke sat on the edge of her coffee table.

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry that I haven't been forward with you. I know you only want the best for me, and I really appreciate it. But really, there _is _something bothering me."

He saw Sakura's eyes tear up. "Are you…is there another girl?"

"No! Of course not." He took her hand in his. "You're the only girl for me."

"So what is it?"

"I…" he began. "How do I say this? I, uh," he began. "I want to marry you."

"Y-You do?" She covered her mouth with her hand. "Sasuke-kun—"

"But," he continued. "I don't have enough money in my savings account to treat you to a good life. Chances are, I'll be working two jobs at once, and I might not be home at all, and even _you _might have to work, although I won't let that happen…"

She put a finger to his lips. "Sasuke-kun." Then, she brought his head up to kiss him. "It doesn't matter. I have enough money for the both of us to live a nice life. And when I'm with you," she kissed him again. "Every day is a good day."

He smiled. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

He opened his arms. "Come here." She nearly jumped from the seat into his arms, knocking them both back onto the coffee table. He wiped away her tears with his thumb.

"Will you talk to me any time you're having a problem?" she asked softly.

"Yeah."

"I always want to hold up a conversation with you."

"Me too."

"And some without words," she said, her eyes motioning to her bedroom. He chuckled, understanding her meaning, and helped her off him while leading her to her bed.

Breakfast was forgotten on the stove.

* * *

**SASUSAKU MONTH 2012**

**COME AT ME BRO**


	2. Hostage

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo2: He's keeping her hostage, but he must let her go.

* * *

**.oo2.  
**_Hostage_

She felt cold metal against her throat and a hand holding her hair tight in a fist. Refusing to turn her head to meet the eyes of her captor, she growled instead, hoping that she would intimidate him.

Sasuke chuckled, loosening his grip on her hair while still holding the kunai against her throat.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura," he said, shaking his head while smirking. "Are you trying to scare me?"

She didn't want to respond to his taunts, but spat at him instead. It landed on his cheek, which he brushed away with the back of his hand.

"Feisty, aren't you? You've grown some backbone."

The remark hit her hard, especially coming from Sasuke.

"Nothing to say now?" he took the kunai away from her throat and massaged her scalp. "It must hurt." Was he referring to her hair or the comment?

"Don't touch me," she snarled, pushing him away. He raised his eyebrows, obviously amused by her behavior.

"You sure wouldn't have said that four years ago," he smirked, twirling the knife around his finger. "My, how you've changed."

Sakura wanted nothing more than to lunge at his throat, taking the kunai and slitting it. But she decided against it. Plus, her feet were bound in chains against the rock walls of the cave he was holding her hostage at.

He crouched in front of her. "Tell me where Naruto is." All traces of the half-assed amusement were gone, and his face had immediately become serious and cold.

"Never."

Sasuke took her collar in his hands and she felt her throat clench. "_Sakura_." He said her name with such coldness that she wondered where the Sasuke who had been on the same team as her went. "_Tell me where Naruto is_."

"I won't."

"You can't or you won't?"

"I won't."

Suddenly, he slapped her across the face. She flinched, feeling the sting of his hand against her cheek. But she continued to stare at him with a straight face.

"Are you going to tell me now, Sakura?"

"No."

He raised his hand for another slap, but watched as she quickly turned her head to the side and was ready for the hit. Instead, he lowered his hand and loosened the grip on her collar.

"I'll be back," he muttered, pocketing the kunai knife and leaving her chained against the wall.

The moment he left, Sakura didn't know what to do. She had never experienced the swirl of emotions she was feeling now.

A warm tear fell down her bruised cheek.

.

.

.

"Still nothing?" Suigetsu asked as Sasuke walked to the part of the cave where their storage supplies were. He, Juugo, and Karin were sitting around in a circle near a small fire, warming their hands. "Can I go and talk to her? I'm interested in seeing how your old teammate looked like."

"No," Sasuke said, with a little more ferocity than he wanted. Suigetsu jumped back, obviously surprised by his leader's response.

"Whoa, alright. Chill out." He backed away more into the circle. "Then sit down. Have some dried fish," he said, handing Sasuke a package of food.

"I don't want any." Sasuke walked away, wanting to go to his temporary room, before Karin stopped him.

"Sasuke-kun!" she said.

He rolled his eyes and turned around. "_What_?"

Karin, too, was surprised by his emotion. "I—I…"

"Forget it," he turned back again. "Leave me alone for now. I need time to think about how to get the Jinchuuriki."

.

.

.

Sasuke lied down on his futon, staring up at the rocks. Capturing Sakura was so easy. While she and the rest of the guys he used to know were on their mission, she had been separated from the group. And it was there that he drugged her and took her.

He imagined that there would have been more of a struggle, considering how powerful she'd gotten over the years. And how beautiful.

Sasuke shook his head quickly and slapped his forehead. He shouldn't be thinking of a girl when he had a mission to do! Especially when that mission involved Sakura and his best friend.

He stared at the hand that had slapped his hostage. His teammate. His friend.

His companion.

Suddenly, he clenched his hand into a fist, feeling his nails break the skin. Cursing, he unclenched his fist, feeling the blood seep down from his palm. He'd have to cut his nails soon.

.

.

.

Sakura was tired and lonely. She hadn't had anything to eat for the longest time and was so hungry.

She sat there in the dark for a while, counting the seconds that had gone by since Sasuke left her in the dark. Both four years ago and right now.

_Two thousand sixteen_, she thought, continuing to try and break out of the chains at her feet that held her securely. _Two thousand seventeen._

Sakura gave up. There was no use. She was tired and had no nourishment for any more effort without straining herself.

"I can't do anything," she shouted, angry at herself. "I hate it!"

"Quiet." Sasuke was in front of her, holding a bowl of rice with a pair of chopsticks. "Eat."

He crouched in front of her again as she took the food, not bothering to say the prayer. Before the rice made its way into her mouth, she stopped.

"You could have poisoned this."

"I didn't."

She thrust the bowl towards him. "Then eat it."

He stared at her with his cold, deep eyes—and then took three bites before handing it back. She waited a couple minutes, made sure that he seemed alright, and began to slowly eat, Sasuke's taste still briefly on the chopsticks.

Then, after seeing that there was nothing wrong with the rice, she wolfed it down, handing the bowl back to him.

"I have a question," she asked.

Sasuke was surprised, but he didn't speak. He let her ask, assuming it would be about the place they were at or something about him or Naruto.

"Why did you chain only my legs? Why not my arms?"

He was silent at first. "Suigetsu made them. Something about losing more chakra and energy and more efficient."

"Oh."

He saw through the darkness that her cheek was still red. He lifted up his bloodied hand to caress it, but thought twice and lowered it. He wanted to ask her how she was, how the village was, and nothing about getting the Jinchuuriki, but couldn't find the words.

"I'm not going to tell you about Naruto," she said quietly. "I know you'll hate me for it. You probably already do. But he's my friend, and…so are you."

The fact that she still considered him a friend made him jerk up in surprise. He looked into her eyes. She was sincere.

"I can't let you do this," she whispered. She leaned over and took his hand, feeling the warmth surround her.

"Sasuke!" she said. "Y-You're bleeding!"

"Hn." He jerked his palm away.

"Stop." She took it back and examined it. "I wish I could heal you," she said. "But I have no chakra."

"It's nothing."

"Sasuke." She leaned over as much as she could without tugging at the chains. She wrapped her arms around him and enveloped him in a tight hug.

"I missed you."

He didn't know what to do, so he rested his hands on her back, not hugging her, but not pushing her away. He liked the feel of her arms around him, like that time in the hospital bed.

"I've got to go." He removed her arms gently from him and stood up, taking the empty bowl with him.

"Bye," she said softly.

He didn't respond.

.

.

.

"She's not giving us any information, Sasuke," Juugo said angrily. "We need to kill her."

"We're not killing her."

"Sasuke, if we let her go she'll tell everyone. And if we don't, she'll just be a burden to us."

"STOP!" Sasuke shouted. He was panting heavily. Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo looked up to see what had caused this odd change in behavior.

"I'll figure something out," he said. "In the meantime, just leave me alone."

"Sasuke-kun," Karin began.

"Stop."

Leaving the room, he ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know _what _he was going to do. But he had to figure it out, soon.

.

**midnight**

.

Sakura was napping against the wall, her back sore from the rock.

"Get up," Sasuke said, shaking her awake. "Come on, Sakura. Get up."

"Nn—" she began, struggling to open her eyes. "W-What…"

"Let's go." He took the chains off her feet and carried her. She had probably forgotten what it was like to walk with her feet so numb.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, her eyes adjusting to the lights.

"Back to your home."

She immediately opened her eyes at this. "What?"

"I'm taking you back to Konoha."

"B-But…Sasuke," she began.

"Do you not want to go back?"

"No! I do. I want to go back, but…" she caressed his cheek. "Will you come with me?"

He paused for a moment. "I can't."

Sakura didn't say anything. "Why are you letting me go?"

"Because I can't keep you hostage any longer."

"Do you ever miss me or the old team?"

He didn't want to admit that yes, he did miss them. "I don't have time to think about things like that."

Soon—Sakura didn't know how quick it had been—they were at a hill near the gate of Konoha, where Sasuke had left four years ago. He knew this place so well. Of course he would drop her off here.

"I guess this is goodbye," Sakura said, being let down by Sasuke.

"Yeah."

"Will I ever see you again?" she asked quietly, her voice cracking. He knew that she was trying not to cry.

"Perhaps."

She began to walk down the hill when she turned around and threw her arms around him, placing a soft kiss on his lips.

"I love you," she said. "I always have."

This time, he hugged her back, tightly but briefly. He let go, smirking.

"You're annoying."

She smiled through tears. "I know."

"Goodbye, Sakura," he said.

"Goodbye…" she closed her eyes, letting the tears fall. Opening them, she saw that he was gone. "Sasuke-kun."

* * *

**this was basically a short version of Precious LOL.**

**and was inspired by schon!**


	3. Rebel

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo3: He took up a rebel life because he didn't want to be the "second-best" brother anymore. Sakura makes him realize that he doesn't have to punish himself because of it.

* * *

**.oo3.  
**_Rebel_

Itachi was always the good kid. He was the epitome of the perfect child that every parent wanted their kid to be. Polite, smart, and kind, he was the whole package.

Sasuke never lived up to his parents' standards with Itachi always being the best.

Whenever he did something wrong, his parents would punish him for it. And whenever he accomplished something that he was proud of, they would shun him.

"Why didn't you get a hundred? Where did that last point go? Itachi always gets a hundreds. Even more than a hundred, if there is." They looked at him with such impatience and disappointment that Sasuke just decided to give it all up.

"I don't want to fucking please anybody anymore," he said, kicking rocks as he took a much-needed venting stroll around the nearby park. "I don't want to be second best. No longer do I give a shit!" he kicked the rock so hard it flew up a few feet away, and then landed with a small _thud_.

He sat at the nearby pond, looking at his reflection from the still water. His usually combed and gelled hair was bothering him. He pushed his bangs out of his face and growled, punching the reflection.

Then, he went home, took a cutting knife from his mother's kitchen drawer, and cut his own hair the way that _he—_and not anybody else—wanted it.

The stray locks floated to the ground like black blades of grass.

.

**six years later**

.

"He's such a rebel," her friends whispered as they giggled, spotting him smoking under a tree. His uniform was out of place and worn casually, the tie loosened and his pants hanging low while his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He held the cigarette to his mouth, sucked in, and then blew out smoke.

"Right, Sakura?"

"Yeah."

Sakura was prim and proper. In essence, she was the embodiment of the female Itachi. She would have no business dealing with someone of _that _kind of nature, no matter what.

"His hair looks like a chicken's butt! Right, Mika? Look! It spikes up in the back!" They began to giggle even louder, pointing fingers at him.

"Guys, don't—you're going to attract atten—"

It was too late. Sasuke had seen the girls laughing at him. He crushed his cigarette in the grass and got up, dusting his pants off from grass stains.

He was walking towards them.

Oh my goodness, _he was walking towards them_.

Like a deer in headlights, the girls froze in place. Sakura couldn't even feel her feet. They were glued to the floor

"Hey," he said.

"H-Hi," her friend, Mika, responded. She shied away in fear, obviously frightened by this "gangster." From his disheveled good looks to the ash on his shirt to the smell of "I've fucked hundreds of girls and you might be next," he gave off the feeling that he wasn't a very friendly guy.

"What's so funny?" he asked, moving a step closer to Sakura's friends. "I want to laugh, too."

"N-Nothing!"

"Something's got to be funny. Why else would you be pointing at me and laughing? Is it how I look? I look stupid, don't I? Just fucking say it. You've done enough already."

By now, Mika was cowering behind Sakura, almost in tears. Sakura had had enough.

"Dude, what is your _problem_?" she asked, stepping towards Sasuke. "Why are you acting like this?"

Sasuke spat on the grass and glared down at her. "Why don't you ask your friend what she thinks is hilarious, hn?"

"Can we just…" Sakura sighed. "Can we just let this whole thing past us? You go your own way, and we go our own way. And we never bother you again. Alright?"

"That's not good enough." He took Sakura by the wrist and drew her closer to him. "We can't just forget this whole thing. That's like letting a murderer scot-free."

"There is no parallel to that—"

"You're coming with me." He pushed Mika and her other friend aside. They both looked as if they were going to wet themselves, and quickly scampered away, not bothering to help their friend in need.

Sakura made struggling noises in order to wrench free from his grasp. Finally, he let her go, and she massaged her wrist.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked angrily. "Do you just like to make a big deal out of things?"

He shrugged, obviously amused by her behavior. "No. But you seem to."

"How did I—"

He reached in his pocket and drew out a carton of cigarettes. Taking one, he found in his other pocket a lighter which he used to light the cigarette.

"Don't," she said, reaching out for the smoking stick. "It's bad for—ouch!"

She drew her hand back quickly, the cigarette hot on her skin. She had been burned.

"Shit, woman," Sasuke cursed, taking her hand. "Don't you know you shouldn't touch fire?" He examined the burn. "Let's get some ice."

"I don't want—"

"Bullshit. I know how much those things hurt, and you're probably in a lot of pain right now. I'll take you to the infirmary."

"I—" Sakura began. But she saw how serious he was, and shut her mouth. He led her to the nurse's office, where she sat on the bed and waited until the nurse came. Sasuke leaned against the doorframe until the nurse was at her side, and he said, "By the way, I'm Sasuke."

"Sakura," she responded softly, tenderly clutching her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

She scoffed. "No, you're not."

"Not what?" he asked. He stood straight up, demanding an explanation.

"You're not pleased to meet me. I just basically told you off less than ten minutes ago."

Sasuke was silent. "Whatever," he finally said. Old habits don't break hard.

The nurse finally came, holding a first aid kit. "Sorry about that!" she said. "I had to get more supplies and…Kami! What happened to your hand?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, trying to hide a smirk. "I'll leave her in your care then," he said to the nurse. He nodded to Sakura. "Take care."

"Thanks," she muttered.

As Sasuke was walking down the hallway, he exhaled deeply and sunk his hands into his pockets. He didn't know what to think of this Sakura girl.

But he sure as hell liked her a lot.

.

**one week later**

.

It had been a while since he'd seen Sakura. The nurse said she sent her to the hospital, because of "her delicate hands" or "thin skin" or something like that. Sasuke scoffed. He felt that Sakura was tougher than a simple cigarette burn. Especially when her stupidity was the reason for it.

Sakura.

For some reason, he couldn't get her out of his head. She didn't shy away from him like her friend did when he confronted her, nor was she attracted to him immediately like the other half. She was just…Sakura.

He sat under the tree again, this time without his carton of cigarettes. It had been a tough habit to break, but he was trying, even going as far as leaving his things at home. Instead, he popped a fresh piece of chewing gum in his mouth.

"…Hey."

He looked up to see Sakura, her hand bandaged.

"Hey."

"Can I sit down?"

"Sure."

She sat next to him, looking up at the falling leaves.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You already did," he smirked.

She slapped him playfully. "Don't be a smartass."

"Fine. Shoot."

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, then stopped, thinking how to phrase it.

"Why do you act the way you do? The rebel life? Is it because of some family issues, or…?"

Sasuke froze. He didn't expect this kind of question.

Instead, he shrugged.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

But he kind of _did _want to talk about it.

"My brother."

She looked at him. "So…it's the second best thing, right?"

She knew so much about him!

"Yeah."

"And your parents? Putting pressure on you by rating both of you?"

"…How do you know this?"

Sakura looked back up at the falling leaves. "I read. I think. I observe the world. I spend my time doing something good. Something that benefits myself and everyone else. I'm not blaming you for your past, but that doesn't mean you have to punish yourself with a rebellious lifestyle."

"So it's _my _fault I act like this?"

She looked at him in horror. "No! Of course not! But you can do so much with yourself if you try." She dusted herself off, making sure not to put too much pressure on her bandaged hand. "See you later, Sasuke."

_If you try_…

The words echoed tauntingly in his ear. He had made up his mind and would stick to his plan.

.

**the next day**

.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see—_Sasuke_?" Sakura stopped in her tracks to examine the new Sasuke in front of her. His uniform was pristine and clean, and fit him to a tee. No crumpled edges. A perfect, tight tie. And pants that weren't too baggy nor too tight.

"Hey." He smirked.

"W-What…what is…"

"You were right, Sakura. I'm not going to live in my brother's shadow. I'm not going to let my parents control my life. I'm going to be the best person I can be. For myself."

She smiled. "That's good." Then, she stepped forward and put her arms around him, letting go before he could hug her back. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Thanks."

"Well, I'll, uh…see you around?" she said, almost shyly.

"Yeah." He gave a half-smile. "See you. Hope your hand gets better."

"Thanks." She gave him a soft smile before walking past him. He turned to watch her leave, smirking.

_I'll see you soon_.

Then, he walked the opposite direction, feeling good about himself. He ran a hand through his newly styled hair.

_Very soon_.

* * *

**ooc sasuke is love. hehehhe i write him too much i totally forget his regular character  
**

**btw i'm going on vacation from tomorrow to the eigth so i will make up the four chapters on the 9th or something! heads up!**

**i'm also gonig to otakon again! will i see anyone there?**


	4. Lick

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo4: Sakura needs to study for her medical exam. Sasuke thinks she should take a break. And with him licking that lollipop...it's not helping her. Not one bit.

* * *

**.oo4.  
**_Lick_

"Stop," Sakura muttered as she shoved Sasuke's hand away from her breast. "I have to study for this exam or I'm going to fail."

He kept his hand cupping her chest and whispered huskily, "You never fail. You say you do, but you're always the top student. You can take a break, right?"

She pried his hand off her breast and said, "Sasuke, leave me alone. I'm really busy right now."

He shrugged. "Alright."

He left her bedroom, closing the door, and she sighed in relief and peace, adjusting her desk light and moving five or six textbooks for more room.

Then, she heard the door open again. Turning around in frustration, she said, "Sasuke! Really? I'm busy right now—"

He had a lollipop in his hands. One of _her _lollipops.

"Sasuke…" she growled. "I thought I told you those were _mine_. Plus, you don't even like sweet things!"

"Hn?" he smirked, as if he had no idea what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" He unwrapped the lollipop and put it in his mouth, twirling it around. With a big _pop!_, he took it out and observed the lollipop with his saliva on it. "I'm just licking a lollipop."

Then, making sure she was still watching, he licked the lollipop suggestively, his tongue flicking up and down. Sakura felt herself get a little turned on, and folded her arms across her chest in fear of her hardened nipples showing.

"What's wrong, Sakura? Does this make you feel uncomfortable?" he said, feeling as if he would win.

"Of course not!" she said defensively, trying not to blush. "Why would it?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "So, can I sit here?"

Sakura refused to make eye contact with him. "I mean, I _guess_. There's no rule against it, is there?"

"Nope." He sat down on her bed and she turned back to her desk, trying to concentrate, although it was hard when Sasuke kept making erotic noises behind her.

"Mm, this tastes good," he teased, wanting her to turn around. She growled to herself, but forced her eyes to look down at her paper and not behind her.

"The flavor is amazing, Sakura," he said. "You should come here and try it."

That was it. Sakura stood up, throwing her pencil on her desk, and walked over to Sasuke, pushing him on the bed while taking the lollipop from him. She put it in her mouth, thinking, _Two can play at this game_.

She sucked the lollipop, making audible noises of pleasure as her lips were around the candy, moving it up and down her mouth. "Oh," she moaned. She began to suck faster, the noises becoming more frequent and more full of desire, and she moved her hand under her shirt, massaging her breast.

Sasuke, who had seen enough, pulled her down to him and took the lollipop out of her mouth, throwing it in the trash.

"You win," he growled before taking her head and kissing her passionately. She felt his erection between her legs and moaned as he poked her with it. She kissed the sides of his neck, and he groaned in pleasure before flipping her over so that he was on top.

"I want you," he said. "I want you badly."

Sakura smiled—it wasn't an _I win _smile, but an _I want you too _smile.

He pulled her shirt over her head and felt his face turn hot at the sight of her pretty lace bra. She blushed, too, teasing him by wrapping a lock of his hair around her finger.

"Is there something wrong?" she smirked.

He shook his head, giving her a devilish glare. "Of course not," he smirked. He took one of her cups with his teeth and moved it over the top of her breasts so that her nipple was vulnerable to his mouth. He sucked her slowly, running his tongue over her bud like he did with the lollipop while his hand moved down to her womanhood, and putting aside her panties as he placed a finger in her.

"O-Oh!" she said, trying to cover up her moans.

Sasuke took her hand away. "Don't," he said. "I want to hear them."

"S-Sasuke-kun, I'm going to—" she said as his fingers moved faster inside of her. "Sasuke—"

He felt her warmth seep over him as he took his fingers out, licking them suggestively in front of her. Her breasts moved with each breath she took, and he leaned down to kiss her, having her taste what she felt like.

"My turn," he said. He unzipped his pants and helped Sakura up. She got off the bed and stood on her knees as she knew what he wanted her to do.

"You give that lollipop so much attention. I want more," he said, taking her head softly in his hands and leading her to his manhood.

Her hands were around him as she moved them up and down slowly, making sure that he felt pleasure as she teased him.

"Sakura," he growled. "Stop doing that."

"Doing what?" she said innocently, her hands frozen in place. "Stop touching you?"

"No. Keep touching me," he said, helping her to move her hands. "Stop being such a tease."

"Oh." He saw the big smirk she had on and knew that she was planning something. "Okay."

She put her mouth over him and pumped him even faster. He threw his head back in pleasure, removing his shirt, and held her head steady in his hands.

"Sakura," he moaned. "That feels so good. Keep going," he said, a trace of begging his voice. "Sakura, Sakura…"

She felt him cum in her mouth as she removed her hands and her lips from him. She licked his stickiness off her mouth and smiled up at him before climbing back on his lap and wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder.

"I love you," she said.

"Hn," he responded as he hugged her back, tighter. She smiled in peace, knowing what he meant. Then, she climbed off him.

"But really, Sasuke-kun, I have to study."

He took her wrist and pulled her back on the bed. "Not yet," he said, unzipping her skirt. "You deserve a break, Dr. Haruno."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"No."

"I thought so."

* * *

**back from vacation! i will make up the other fics asap!**


	5. Harvest

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo5: It's blazing hot outside and Sasuke still needs to harvest all the plants. When Sakura "saves" him from dying of heat exhaustion, he has to find a way to repay her for her helpfulness.

* * *

**.oo5.  
**_Harvest_

Sasuke wiped the sweat off his forehead as he leaned over to pick up more of the corn his family had grown for the winter. He was in these tacky jean overalls with a gray T-shirt underneath, and he was sweating waterfalls.

Itachi, on the other hand, was taking the vegetables easily, not a drop of sweat on him. Sasuke growled, forcing himself to work at Itachi's pace without seeming like he was going to die of heat stroke.

"You tired, Sasuke?" Itachi called out, tipping his bamboo hat so that the sun wouldn't get in his eyes.

Sasuke didn't say anything. He kept working on picking the vegetables.

"You want me to get you some water? I'm going inside to take a break. Can I bring you anything?"

"No," Sasuke shouted out. "I'm fine."

Truthfully, he wasn't. He felt as if he would keel over due to heat shock, but there was no way he show his weakness to his _perfect _brother Itachi.

"Alright. Call me if you need anything." Itachi took off his bamboo hat and walked inside the house as Sasuke was left alone to pick the food from the garden. He cursed under his breath.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" his neighbor Sakura called out, waving to him as she was walking her dog. "What's up?"

He stopped what he was doing and gave her a small wave back. "Hey."

She walked towards him, carrying her puppy in her arms in fear that he would sniff everywhere and ruin some of his crops.

"It's blazing out here! Are you alright?" she asked. She reached for his cheek with one hand, but he turned away.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good. Do you need anything? Some water?"

"I'm alright."

He knew that Sakura liked him. She liked him ever since they were young. But they had just remained friendly acquaintances, and although he knew that she wanted to be more than that, he just went with the flow.

Sasuke went back to picking the garden, feeling a little uncomfortable that Sakura was still watching him from behind. "You're really hardworking," she said, as if she didn't know what else to say.

"Thanks."

"I mean, really. If I had to do that I would probably die within the hour. So that's really admirable of you."

"Thanks."

Sakura could see that Sasuke was getting sort of impatient, so she said, "I'm going to keep walking Gin. See you later, Sasuke-kun."

"Bye."

She left, putting Gin down onto his four legs, and kept walking, sniffing every part of Sasuke's house as they left the garden.

"You like him too, huh?" Sakura asked. "I know."

.

.

.

Sasuke was almost drowning in his sweat. He groaned as his arms felt weak and how he thought he couldn't go on any further. Lying down on the hot soil, he looked up at the Indian summer sun and squinted.

He felt his head go dizzy and decided to sleep for a couple seconds. He took a big whiff of the smell around him. But instead of smelling dirt and crops, he smelled a floral scent instead. It was Sakura's smell.

He took another big inhalation and closed his eyes, almost in peace.

.

.

.

"Sasuke? Sasuke! Wake up!"

He opened his eyes slowly, groaning as he put a hand to his head. He struggled to get up.

"W-Where am I?" he muttered, feeling dizzy and nauseous.

Sakura pushed him back down. "In your bed. I found you while I was walking Gin back to my house, and I saw that you were lying on the ground and you were barely breathing. So I had Itachi carry you to your room and stuff, and I, uh, stayed here until I woke you up." She was blushing, refusing to meet Sasuke's gaze.

"Oh."

"Do you feel alright?" she asked, putting a hand to his forehead.

"I've been better." He reached for the edge of the blanket so that he could get back to work, but she made him stay in his bed.

"You need to rest! Here, drink some water," she said, giving him a cold bottle of ice water. He downed it thankfully, some water dripping onto his shirt and overalls, and sighed in relief. "Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome." She blushed again, and said, "I was really worried about you."

Sasuke didn't say anything. Sakura was fiddling with her thumbs and looking down at her lap. She was about to say something else again, but Itachi came in the room to check on Sasuke, holding Gin in his arms.

"Hey, Sakura," Itachi said. "Gin is such a good boy." He handed her dog back to him and her puppy licked her face sweetly. She giggled before Gin saw Sasuke, jumping onto his bed, and licking his face excitedly.

"Gin! No! Bad boy," she said, reaching to pull her dog off him. Instead, she saw that Sasuke was laughing, too, saying, "Stop, Gin," but not minding the dog's affection at all.

"Looks like Gin's got a crush," Itachi said, putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "So Sasuke, if you and Sakura don't work out, you and Gin could probably hook up," Itachi joked.

Both kids froze, and Itachi, realizing that he had made the situation more awkward, pulled Gin off him and carried him back in his arms.

"Come on, Gin. Let's go play a game."

He closed the door behind him, hoping the two fifteen-year olds would fare well.

.

.

.

"So," Sakura began.

"So," Sasuke repeated.

"How's the farming going?" she asked, not knowing what else to say. "Or the homeschooling? I think it would be really cool to be homeschooled."

He shrugged. "Both are alright. Farming's hard work. Homeschooling is kind of boring because the only person I get to see is Itachi, and I see him every day."

"I can always keep you companion. You can just give me a shout out or something. I mean, we live next to each other, so…"

"Yeah."

Sakura looked at the clock on his wall. "It's nine o'clock already? It's already dark out! I need to go home!"

"Wait," Sasuke said. Sakura froze as she reached the door. He stumbled as he tried to find his footing. "Do you want to see something great?"

She smiled. "Of course."

.

.

.

She walked a pace behind him, her arm hovering over his back in case he was about to fall. But he finally found his feet, and opened a window, climbing out onto the roof.

"Come out," he said.

"B-But…it's dangerous!" she said, scared that she would fall.

"You won't get hurt. Here, I'll catch you in case you lose your balance," he said, holding his arms out. Sakura stepped out the window and took ahold of Sasuke's hand.

"Wow," she said, breathless. She had never been out past dark, nor had she ever been on a roof.

Sasuke sat down, and she made herself comfortable next to him.

"It's going to get cold soon," he said. "So we're preparing food for the winter."

"Yeah."

"You see the moon? Right there?" he pointed up to the sky, and Sakura squinted her eyes to see the white orb that glowed in the middle of the sky.

"Yes! It's beautiful!"

"That's called a harvest moon. It's seen near the time of the autumn equinox."

"It's lovely," Sakura said.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura and noticed how pretty she was in the moonlight.

They heard barks downstairs, and Sakura said, "Gin's barking."

"Yeah."

"Sounds like a wolf howling at the moon, huh?"

"A little bit."

They continued to look at the sky, when Sakura rested her head on Sasuke's shoulder. It felt good, having her lean on him like that. So he didn't say anything.

Sasuke looked down at the garden, thinking about how much work he would have to do tomorrow. Instead, he forgot about it for a little while and looked back up at the harvest moon.

The two stared up at the sky for a little while longer, while downstairs, Itachi petted Gin furiously. "Shh, Gin," Itachi said. "Don't ruin this for them. They're very happy together right now. Come on," he said, taking Gin's leash. "You wanna watch it, too?"

Gin panted in response and Itachi smiled, carrying the dog in his arms as they went outside in a lawn chair, Gin resting on Itachi's lap comfortably while Itachi stared up at the orange moon.

Gin closed his eyes and slept peacefully as Itachi stroked the top of his head.

* * *

**wtf do i do with something like harvest**

**also please review! i wnat this to be like love month! xD**


	6. Quarantine

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo6: "Where's Sakura?" he asks. Itachi can't help but give him the same answer. "She's not coming, Sasuke."

* * *

**.oo6.  
**_Quarantine_

Sasuke shivered as the room's cold air blew at him. They only gave him thin clothing. It wasn't enough.

He curled up into a ball in the corner of the room and rocked slowly, savoring as much body heat as he could. He didn't like it here—it was dark, scary, and frightening. He wanted his friends. He wanted his family.

He wanted _Sakura_.

Sasuke didn't understand why he had to be locked up. He didn't know why he was placed in a _loony bin_. But they said, "It's for the best, Sasuke," and stripped him of his clothes and dignity and put him in a padded room with no windows or any source of real light.

He missed Sakura's touch, the softness of her kisses, and the smoothness of her skin. He wanted nothing more than to have her in his arms and make sweet love to her as she called out his name.

Closing his eyes, he struggled to think of Sakura's face in order to get past the hell he was facing. Instead of seeing her sweet smile and her silky pink hair, he saw nothing. Only darkness.

"I'm think I'm going insane," he muttered to himself as he put his hands to his head. "I can't—I can't understand anything anymore…"

He kept rocking himself in the fetal position, brooding about how he couldn't see Sakura, how it seemed as if she didn't exist, how she left him…

The thought of her leaving him made him angry. He immediately stood up and shouted, punching the padded walls with his fists.

"Bleed! _Bleed_, already!" he cried out as he struggled to cut his knuckles through the cushiony walls. "Bleed," he begged, almost in tears as his punches became weaker and weaker, until finally, he panted and gave up, sliding back down onto the floor.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura…" he said, repeating her name constantly. "Sakura, Sakura, Sakura…"

Sasuke sat there in frustration and disappointment for a few minutes before the echoing stopped, and his eyes fluttered shut.

.

.

.

"Sasuke-san? You have a visitor," one of the nurses said as she opened up the door to the padded room. Sasuke woke up, looking to see who on earth would visit him in this state.

"Hey, otouto," Itachi said as he walked towards Sasuke with a bouquet of cut flowers. "Thought you might be lonely and dropped by to say hi."

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, refusing to meet Itachi's gaze. He never got along with his brother, who was always number one in everything that Sasuke tried to do. Plus, he was always wary around Itachi when Sakura was around, because he knew that his brother _also _liked his girlfriend…

"Can't I just come by and visit?" Itachi sat down next to Sasuke, placing the bouquet in between them. "I miss you," he said, putting a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke shrugged it off. "Hn."

"We all do. Mom, dad, and especially Naruto. Hell, I can't tell you how many times he's knocked at our house and asked, '_Is teme home yet? Is he better yet?_'"

"Hn."

"Sasuke…" Itachi began. "Talk to me."

Sasuke didn't respond. He was wondering if Sakura missed him too, but he didn't want to say anything.

"So how are you feeling in here? Comfortable?"

"No," Sasuke said. "I hate it here."

Itachi sighed. "I probably would do, if they put me in quarantine. But you're doing a great job of keeping stable. The nurses say if you keep it up, you might be out within a few months."

"A few _months_?" Sasuke asked, incredulous.

"Well, yes, but…it's better than we expected," Itachi said.

Itachi wrapped his arms around Sasuke, who didn't budge. He was still trying to comprehend living in a lonely cell for much longer.

"What about Sakura?" Sasuke asked out of the blue. He felt Itachi stiffen, and unwrap his arms around him.

"Sakura…" Itachi began. "Don't you know what happened?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No."

Itachi looked obviously uncomfortable, and was trying to find a way to word his phrases as well as he could. "Sakura…isn't here anymore."

"Why? Why isn't she here? Doesn't she miss me?"

"She misses you a lot," Itachi said, calming Sasuke down.

"Then why won't she come visit me?" Sasuke's voice rose to a shout, and one of the nurses came to check if Itachi was still alright.

"Sir, is everything—"

"It's fine, miss," he said, waving her off. "Please leave."

The nurse unwillingly shut the door as Itachi put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke, listen…"

"No! Tell me why Sakura won't see me! Is it because I'm a monster?"

"You're not a monster—"

"LIAR!" he shouted, shoving Itachi with his hands. Itachi stumbled, falling onto the padded cushions of the floor.

"Don't you remember, Sasuke?"

"Remember what?"

"Don't you know how you got in here?" Itachi asked as Sasuke loomed over him with a murderous glare in his eye. It wasn't the first time he had seen that look.

"Why should I? They put me on so much drugs I can't even remember yesterday."

Itachi got up and slowly approached Sasuke. He cupped his cheeks and said, "Sasuke, you killed her."

"I…killed Sakura?"

Itachi looked like he didn't want to admit the truth, but there it was. "Yes."

"That's impossible—" Sasuke began, his eyes turning glassy. "I can't have killed her. I love her. I don't…I don't understand…"

"I'm sorry," Itachi said. He looked at his watch. "I have to go." He kissed his brother's forehead softly and put the bouquet in his lap before having the nurse help him out.

"I…killed her. I killed Sakura," Sasuke repeated, staring at the hands that had apparently caused the death of his most beloved person. "I can't—"

He began to hit himself, hard, feeling small trickles of blood slide down his cheeks.

"Hey! Hey! Sasuke-san, stop it! Stop!"

Several nurses had come in and two held his wrists together while he struggled to break free, kicking. "Let me go!" he shouted. "I have to see Sakura!"

He felt a sharp prick in his neck, and then nothingness.

His limbs stopped moving.

.

.

.

"I miss Sakura," Sasuke said, rocking in the corner of the room again. "I want to see her." He struggled to remember her face, but saw only blackness.

"Sasuke-san! You have a visitor!"

Itachi walked in, slowly approaching Sasuke. Just yesterday, he had gotten into another fit of rage hearing about Sakura's disappearance. It always happened whenever Itachi tried to tell Sasuke.

"Hey, otouto," he said. "How are you doing?"

"Where's Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi opened his mouth to say what he normally said to his brother. Instead, he said, "She's coming, Sasuke. She told me to tell you she misses you a lot."

"I miss her, too."

"She loves you."

"I love her, too. So when is she coming?"

Itachi didn't have the heart to tell him that she would never be coming. Instead, he put an arm around Sasuke and held his hand tight in his own while Sasuke looked eagerly at the door in hopes that she would come for him.

* * *

**i love writing mentally unstable fics and watching movies like that heheheh.**

**anyway i think i abuse itachi too much**


	7. Teacher

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo7: Their love is forbidden, and Sakura knows that she has to let go soon. Sasuke just won't let her.

* * *

**.oo7.  
**_Teacher_

"We can't do this," Sakura moaned as Sasuke kissed her neck, undoing the buttons on her blouse.

"I know," he murmured, his mouth trailing back up to kiss her jaw, and then her lips. "But I need you."

She wrapped her legs around his waist and had her hands on his shoulders, throwing her head back so that he had more access to her neck. "S-Sensei…"

"Don't call me sensei," he said, his lips still at her neck. "Call me Sasuke."

"Sasuke…" she said softly, the word foreign to her. She liked how it rolled off her tongue, though. "Sasuke…"

He finally undid all the buttons on her blouse and saw that she was wearing a plain white bra underneath. Blushing, Sakura covered her chest with her arms, embarrassed to show herself to her teacher.

"It's okay," he said, pulling her arms apart. "Let me see."

He looked at her chest and stomach. She was beautiful, with soft, white skin and almost immaculate breasts underneath her garment. "Can I touch you?" he asked softly, not wanting to push her any more than she didn't want.

Sakura nodded, and he rested a hand on her thigh while trailing his fingers down her cleavage before taking one of her breasts and cupping them in his hand. Sakura struggled to hold back a moan, but Sasuke kissed her.

"I like it when you call out like that. Please, don't stop."

He pulled up one of the cups, and Sakura blushed, feeling his gaze linger on her nipple. He took it between his fingers and flicked it softly, and she cried out in pleasure, moaning as she became hard against his hand.

"You're very responsive," he murmured as he replaced his fingers with his mouth, suckling her like a newborn baby. "And you taste deliciously sweet."

"Sensei—!"

"I told you," he said, taking his mouth off her breast for one second. "Call me Sasuke."

"Sasuke…" she moaned. "Sasuke, Sasuke…" she wrapped her fingers in his hair as he pulled up the other cup and massaged her breast as he sucked her, feeling her turn harder with every lick.

"Sakura," he said, pulling apart to kiss her again. He looked into her eyes. "I lo—"

The bell rang. "Shit!" Sakura cried out, quickly pulling down her bra and buttoning her blouse while smoothing her skirt and her hair. "I'm sorry, sensei, I have to go now." She gave him a shy smile as she ran out the door, and Sasuke stared at her, mussed hair and all. He collapsed in his chair, looking at the desk where he and Sakura were just expressing their desires. And he was so close, _so _close, to telling her how he felt.

But it would never have worked out anyway. He was five years her senior at 23, and she still had her whole life in front of her, possibly involving another man that wasn't him.

He hated the idea of Sakura being with someone else, doing the things that he and she just did. But if she was happy with him, then who was he to stop her from being happy?

.

.

.

_Dear Diary_, Sakura wrote. She contemplated on what to write at her desk, swinging her legs back and forth. _I was with Sensei again. He keeps telling me to call him Sasuke, but I feel that if we were in class, I might call him Sasuke instead of Sensei and…_ she paused, thinking of what else to write.

_He touched me again today. We got to fondling without clothes—and he touched my breasts. It felt so good, I didn't want him to stop. I'm still feeling hot thinking about it, _she wrote as she felt her chest heat up with warmth. _I think…I love him a lot. He makes me feel warm—not just with passion—whenever I'm with him, and he makes me feel good and makes me laugh. I'm just worried that he won't like me back in that way, because I'm so young and there are plenty of other women much more beautiful than me._

Sakura didn't want to write anymore. She closed her diary and undressed, going to her bed.

"Good night, Sasuke," she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes, awaiting sleep.

.

.

.

"So, what do you think the poet is trying to say in lines four and seven? Do you agree with what he's saying? Naruto, what do you think?" Sasuke said, calling on the student that was not trying to hide the fact that he was sleeping.

"Hn…what?" Naruto said as someone kicked him under the table to wake him up. "Sorry, what, sensei?"

Sasuke smirked. He liked Naruto, but he sure as hell could be dumb as fuck. "Pay attention. Now, what do you think…" he scanned the room, his eyes landing on the student he cared for the most. "Sakura?"

Sakura jumped up, hearing Sasuke call her name. All eyes were on her, and she didn't know what to say.

"I think…" she said softly. She cleared her throat. "I disagree with him."

"Why?" Sasuke asked. She saw that his eyes softened, and that usually only happened when they were together intimately.

"Because…" she said. "Because I think that if you love someone, no matter who they are, you should do anything you can to make sure he or she ends up happy, even if it means letting them go. Because keeping them for yourself if they don't feel the same way is selfish. And the person you love won't be happy, meaning that _you _won't be happy, either. That's what I think," Sakura said, her voice getting quieter.

All eyes were still on her. The room was dead silent.

"See me after class," Sasuke said. He turned back to the chalkboard. "Okay, now in these lines—what kind of theme do you think the poet is trying to convey?"

.

.

.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, making sure the doors were locked and that nobody could come in. "What were you trying to tell me during class?"

Sakura looked at her feet. "Nothing, it was just a statement."

"It's got to be more than a statement, Sakura," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You poured your feelings out to me. Do you not want to be with me like this? Is it too risky? Because if you want, I can leave my job."

"No! Don't leave," Sakura said. "I'm not going to let you do that to yourself."

"Why not? What if I want to?"

"Why would you? You have such a good life here. Everybody loves you," she said.

Sasuke paused. "Do you love me?"

"What?"

"Do you love me. Not the love that the other students do, but do you _love _me in that way?" he asked in all seriousness.

Sakura refused to look at him, blushing madly. "I…"

"Because…" he began. "I love you."

He saw Sakura's eyes tear up, but she refused to look at him. He took his hands off from her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead softly while wiping away the tears with his thumbs.

"I don't want to let you go, ever," he said in her hair.

Sasuke felt her arms wrap around him, hugging him back. "I love you," she cried. "I don't want to lose you to anyone else."

"You won't," he promised. "I'm sure. When you graduate in three months, I'm going to marry you. And even if you decide to go to college, I'll teach there. I'm not going to leave you alone."

"Sasuke…" she said softly. She loved how it sounded, and he closed his eyes in pleasure hearing it.

"Sakura."

He felt her tug at his shirt and belt buckle. Pulling back, he said, "What are you doing?"

"I need you," she whispered. "Please."

"Sakura…" he held her hands together. "Not until I take you home." He smiled.

Home, where they would both live together. Home, where Sakura would complete the other part of Sasuke. Home. Where she would always feel loved and warm and fuzzy.

She put her arms around him. He hugged her back.

The bell rang.

"Oh no, I've got to—" Sasuke held her tighter to him.

"You can be late a couple minutes. I'll write you a note."

She smiled, hugging him back. They stood there for what seemed like forever.

"Alright, I'll go now. See you later," Sakura said, pulling apart from the hug.

"See you soon." He waved her off. "Very soon."

* * *

**student teacher fics are win lol**

**which reminds me ih ave to update you teach i learn LOL**

**apsoutapowieutawpitu **

**REVIEW PLEASE PELASE PLEASE**


	8. Dare

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo8: He has a month to make Sakura fall in love with him. He just didn't know that the tables would be turned.

* * *

**.oo8.  
**_Dare_

**Day 1**

"—then I dare _you _to make _Haruno Sakura _fall in love with you by the end of this month!"

Naruto's dare was unbelievable.

"I refuse," Sasuke said, crossing his arms.

"You have to. It's a _dare_," Sai said. "That's the rules of the game."

"Well, what if I don't?" Sasuke retorted.

Naruto paused, thinking of a "punishment." "Then you have to make out with Karin. And not just lip-touching, I mean, like, _tonguing_. And I bet she'll like it a lot more than you will."

"Then what do I get if I do?"

"I'll…" Naruto said, thinking. "I'll pay you back all the ramen you bought for me."

"Fine."

It wasn't that he thought Sakura was ugly. She was very pretty, in fact. But she had this aura that told people, "Leave me alone before I break your neck." And he didn't like that kind of personality because he didn't want to die an early death.

"Well, you can start _now_. Look, she's over there talking with her friends! Now go introduce yourself. Come on," Naruto said, pushing Sasuke to go talk with Sakura.

"Naruto, stop—"

But it was too late. He was already in front of Sakura. "Hey," he said, trying not to seem as if he lost his cool.

"Hi. You're Sasuke, right?" she said. Wow, her voice was so pretty.

"Yeah. That's right. And you're Sakura?"

"Yeah. Don't get creeped out or anything. I've just seen you around school before. So, did you need something?"

Sasuke saw that she was actually very nice.

"I thought maybe we could know each other or something. You seem, uh, nice."

Wow. Total creep-o alert.

But apparently, she didn't seem fazed by it at all. "Sure." She asked for his phone and entered her number. "Anyway, I've got to go. Bye, Sasuke."

She walked off with her friends, who were giggling madly. Sasuke smirked. This dare would be a lot easier than he thought it would be.

.

**Day 4**

.

"Hello?" Sakura answered, putting her cell phone on speaker as she painted her nails a nice, pastel pink.

"Hey. It's Sasuke," he answered. "What are you doing?"

"Hey! Sasuke. What's up? I'm just painting my nails," Sakura said. "Shoot, I messed up," she muttered.

"I'm actually at a coffee shop. Do you want to come with?" he asked.

Sakura paused for a moment. "I could go for some coffee. Sure. What place is it?"

"The one with the giant coffee cup outside near the train station."

"Oh! Sure! I'll see you in a bit, then."

"See you." He hung up first, and Sakura stared at her toenails and back to her phone. "Hm."

.

.

.

"So what prompted you to ask to me get coffee all of a sudden?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke shrugged as they sat down at a table. "Well, I just thought that maybe you liked coffee."

"I do." She took a packet of sugar from the table and put it in her drink.

"What did you order?" Sasuke asked.

"Black coffee."

"_Pure _black?"

"Yeah. I like black coffee. Why, what did you get?"

Sasuke opened his lid to show her an espresso. "I assumed you'd be one of those girls drinking, like, mocha mint frappucinos or something."

Sakura shook her head, laughing. "Nope."

"I guess you're different," he said, smirking.

She smiled. "I guess I am."

.

**Day 12**

.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked as Sasuke took her by the hand, leading her to a park.

"It's a surprise," he said. "Hurry up."

"I'm trying! You should have told me to wear hiking shoes or something. I can't walk in these!"

He chuckled. "Whose fault is that?"

"Shut up!"

He led her to a small pond in the middle of the park. It was covered by trees and looked like something that came out of a fairytale book.

"It's beautiful," Sakura said. She bent down and poked the surface of the water with her finger. Then, she took off her shoes and put her feet in the water.

Sasuke sat down next to her, taking off his shoes and also putting his feet in the water. "It feels nice."

"This whole place is beautiful," she said breathlessly.

Sasuke looked at her and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. So are you."

Then, he leaned in for a kiss, to which she responded eagerly. They managed to roll onto the grass, Sakura on top of Sasuke, their lips never leaving the other's for just one second.

"I think I like you," Sakura murmured softly.

Sasuke didn't respond. He just took Sakura's head and brought her down for another kiss, a bad feeling churning in his stomach.

.

**Day 17**

.

"How's everything?" Naruto asked through the phone. "Is she smitten with you yet?"

"No," Sasuke asked. For some reason, he didn't like how he was doing this because of a dare. He felt that Sakura was cheated. But he did like her, and he had a promise to keep to his friends…

"Well, you better go! Because Karin's waiting to make some lip-lock with you."

"Fuck you, Naruto."

"Love you too, teme." He hung up the phone. Sasuke stared at the screen and sighed.

"What am I going to do with you, dobe?"

.

**Day 21**

.

Sasuke considered their meetings as "dates." Whenever he wanted to take Sakura out, he said, "You want to go on date?"

"Of course!" she would say, and he would take her anywhere—the coffee shop, the pond, or somewhere new. This time, it was at a tea shop. They sat down formally, and Sakura said, "Have you ever been here?"

He shook his head. "No, but my parents have. They love it."

Sakura took a look at the menu. "They all look good."

"Order whatever you want. My treat."

She smiled, leaning over the table to kiss his cheek. "Thanks."

Sasuke felt a guilty conscious rumble in his head. He didn't like leading Sakura on like this. And in ten days, he would have to admit everything and they would just have to go back to what they were like before.

Until then, he would just enjoy the time spent with her.

.

**Day 25**

.

They were in his room, playing a game. Even as a newbie, Sakura still beat Sasuke at all of his games.

"How the hell do you do that?" Sasuke asked, incredulous.

"I just mash all the buttons together," Sakura admitted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm going to get some drinks. Do you want anything?"

She shook her head. "I'm alright."

"Okay. I'll be back in a few."

He went downstairs, and Sakura sat patiently waiting for him. She really wanted to snoop around in his room, but that's not what a good girlfriend—could she even consider herself his girlfriend?—would do.

His phone began to ring. Sakura left it there, not knowing whether or not she should pick up. The ringtone ended, and soon after came a barricade of text messages.

"I guess one wouldn't hurt," Sakura said as she reached for Sasuke's phone. She saw that it was from Sai.

_So, is she in love with you yet?_

Sakura didn't know what he meant. She scrolled back to a previous message.

_Time's a tickin', Sasuke-chan. More money for me, more kissy kissy goo goo with Karin!_

"What?" Sakura said, not sure what she meant.

_You took her to a pond and made out? LOL! You're such a hopeless romantic._

Sakura felt violated. He _told _his friends about her like that?

_So the dare is officially on! Make Sakura fall in love with you, or face the consequences! DUN DUN DUNNNNN._

"Sakura—" Sasuke began, dropping the drinks onto the floor. She looked at him with teary eyes, the phone still in her hand. "Sakura, I can explain—"

"There's nothing _to _explain. I understand."

"No, Sakura—"

"I've got to go."

She rushed out past Sasuke, trying to stop her. But she was too quick for him. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stifled her sobs.

"I can't believe he used me for a dare…"

.

**Day 29**

.

"Oh, hey, teme! What's up?" Naruto said as he and Sai were playing poker.

"Fuck you." He took Naruto by the collar and pressed him against the wall. "I oughta kill you right now."

"Sasuke, what are you—mmph!"

Sai tried to pry Sasuke off Naruto. "Sasuke-san, stop…"

"Shut up!" he turned back to Naruto. "I lost her, Naruto. She found out and I fucking _lost _her. The dare's over. I don't care about your shit anymore. You don't have to pay me back. You won, alright?"

He dropped Naruto, and stormed out of the room. Naruto massaged his throat as he and Sai looked to see where Sasuke had gone.

"He likes her a lot," Sai said. "I can tell."

"Yeah. Who knew?"

.

**Day 31**

.

Sakura looked at her phone. Her voicemail was full, all from Sasuke, and he had sent her multiple texts and calls.

"Leave me alone," she muttered to herself. She felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. "I hate you."

Someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it!" Mebuki called. Sakura sighed, lying on her bed and looking up at the ceiling.

"Sakura! Some nice gentleman wants to talk to you. Says he couldn't reach you for a long time."

Her heart sank. Sasuke—?

"Tell him I don't want to talk."

"Oh, but dear, he spent thirty minutes getting here. Running. Cut him some slack, alright?"

"Fine."

Sakura wiped her eyes and went down to see Sasuke waiting for her at her door. "What do you want?" she said harshly.

"I just want you to listen to me. You don't have to forgive me. But just listen."

"You have a minute." She folded her arms.

Sasuke sighed. "Yes, it's true. I was dared to make you fall in love with me by today. But the tables have turned. I ended up falling for _you_. And I miss you. A lot can happen in a few days. I've learned so much about you that I never would have known without this dare, and I'm glad, because I was happy with you." He reached out to put a hand to her cheek, but she pulled back. "And I'm sorry."

They stood there in silence.

"Well, I should go." He turned to leave, before Sakura called out, "Sasuke."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

He smirked, gave her a two fingered wave, and walked home.

Mebuki, listening to the whole thing, said, "You like him too, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then go get him."

Sakura smiled at her mom, feeling tears come on. She put on her running shoes and caught up with him, jumping onto his back and wrapping her arms around him.

Mebuki watched as Sakura said something, then Sasuke, then Sakura again. They hugged tightly, and Sasuke kissed her, right in the middle of the street.

She smiled, closing the door. They could have a few more minutes of privacy before Sakura had to come in.

"Remember how we met?" Mebuki said as Kizashi walked up to her, trying to see what all the commotion was about.

"Yeah. Through a dare."

"And now look where we are." She put a hand on her husband's chest. "I think they'll be following in our path very soon.

* * *

**i love cliches**

**REVIEW**


	9. Bravado

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **oo9: Sasuke wants to impress Sakura. Even if it means embracing a new 'do with the help of the love guru, Naruto.

* * *

**.oo9.  
**_Bravado_

"What the _hell _are you talking about?" Sasuke said as he took in Naruto's "advice." "I'm not going to do that! Not even for her!"

"Come on, Sasuke. You're a wimp. By doing this, you show her that you're super amazing and that everybody loves you and that you could have any girl you want, yet you decide to choose her."

"I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not!" Sasuke replied as Naruto crossed his arms angrily.

Naruto whined. "All you need to do is restyle your hair, and just wear these clothes for a while. Alright?" He handed Sasuke a pile of clothes. Sasuke looked down at them.

"These look ridiculous."

"Yeah, but they're bound to get girls wet by the time they look at you. I'm pretty sure Sakura isn't an exception."

Sasuke held up the outfit in front of him, wincing. "You really think so?"

"Definitely. Oh, and you need a personality change. Have you heard of something called _swag_?"

.

.

.

Sakura was staring at her vocabulary book, muttering to herself.

"What kind of a word is _bravado_?" she said as she looked through her English-Japanese dictionary. "Hm. Bravado. _A bold manner or a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate. _Huh." She copied the definition in her notebook when she saw someone coming towards her.

"S-Sasuke-kun? Is that you?"

Sasuke didn't look directly at her. His face was a little red, probably from the heat, and instead of the school uniform, he wore a black T-shirt underneath another purple shirt with the collar popped up. He also had on some obscenely green pants and sandals, while donning jingly bracelets and a necklace.

"Yeah."

"W-What is this?" Sakura asked, motioning to his clothes.

"A new look."

Sakura could see the other girls on campus swoon over Sasuke, giggling and pointing and blushing at his new look. "I LOVE YOU, SASUKE-KUN!" was shouted out from many different angles of the school.

_Naruto was right_, Sasuke said. _But the only girl who isn't impressed is Sakura_.

"Oh." Sakura didn't know whether to laugh or not. "Cool."

"Thanks."

She didn't say that she liked it, but she didn't _hate _it either.

"I'm going to go. See you later, Sasuke-kun."

_Wait! _He wanted to say. Instead, he nodded. "See you."

"Shit," he cursed. "That didn't work out."

He walked back to his dorm in the way Naruto told him to walk: with "swag." If swag meant pulling his pants low and walking like a moron, then he had it.

.

.

.

"How'd it go?" Naruto asked as Sasuke opened the door to their dorm. He plopped down on the bed, his bracelets jingling.

"You suck," Sasuke said. "She didn't seem interested at all."

"Did you show her the temporary tattoo tramp-stamp we put on you?" he asked. "Cuz that's sure to make her wild for you."

Sasuke glared at Naruto, who immediately backed off. "Whoa, okay. Cool down. Fine. Don't show her the tramp-stamp."

"I really like her, Naruto."

"I think she likes you, too."

"Yeah? What makes you think that?" Sasuke said, lifting himself with his forearm.

Naruto sat down across from Sasuke. "Well, for starters, you're the only guy she addresses as —_kun_."

"Point taken."

"She smiles a lot when she's near you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "She does that to everybody."

"Yeah, but mostly for you."

"Fine. What else?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto didn't say anything. "I can't think of anything else. But I know that she likes you. I'm 99% sure. Trust me on this."

"I can't trust you with anything after _this_," Sasuke said, motioning to his clothes.

"I'm the love guru, though! So last time. Trust me this once, and you never have to trust me again."

"Fine." Sasuke hopped off his bed. "I'm going to go find her again."

"Have fun!" Naruto shouted. "BE SAFE!"

.

.

.

"Oh! Sasuke! What a surprise. I was actually coming to find you," Sakura said as she bumped into Sasuke. She noticed how he was still wearing his flashy clothes.

"Me too," he said. "But you go first."

Before he saw Sakura, he was full of bravado until she said she wanted to say something. Now he was almost _cowering_.

"I, uh, want to admit something to you," she said, looking down at her feet shyly. "Well, uh…are you busy on Sunday? Because, you know, some of the girls near my dorms are holding this party, and…"

"I'd love to," Sasuke said. Sakura looked up in delight.

"Really? Oh, that's fantastic!" she then quieted down in embarrassment. "So, what were you going to say?"

Sasuke opened his mouth. "I, uh, just wanted to tell you that I…have feelings for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's such a relief. Because I like you, too! No matter _what _you're wearing! But I like you more when you're, uh, wearing your uniform."

"Me too. So, I'll…pick you up on Sunday?"

"Sunday," she confirmed. "Well. Bye, Sasuke-kun."

He watched as she walked back down the hallway. Then, he looked down at his clothes and groaned, before walking back to his dorm and changing them.

"How'd it go?" Naruto asked, putting down his copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

Sasuke smirked, taking a pen from his desk and marking a big red circle on Sunday.

"What do you think?"

Naruto shook his head, chuckling. "I told you, teme. I'm the love guru."

* * *

**the reason this is so bad is because i had no idea what bravado meant until this LOLOLOL**

**rtn sasuke heheh**

**REVIEWWWWWWW**


	10. Thunder

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o10: Sasuke finds out that Sakura's afraid of thunder. And he'll help her overcome her fear, because she needs to know that he's always going to be at her side.

* * *

**.o10.  
**_Thunder_

It was raining harder than it ever had in Konoha's recorded weather history. The weathermen predicted that the rainfall would be at least seven inches. _At least_.

Citizens were warned to stay inside for a while, and to make sure to ration their resources in case the rain pour kept on for more than a week.

"I'm scared," Sakura said as she huddled close to Sasuke. He wrapped an arm around her while adjusting the blanket so that she got more of it than he did (after all, he was already pretty warm from her body heat). "Do you think everything will be alright?"

"It'll be fine. Don't worry." He put a comforting hand on her back and rubbed her in circles. "You're with me. Nothing bad happens when you're with me."

She smiled at his cheesy words and put her head in his chest. He sighed, not knowing what to do since the power was out and there was no form of entertainment to keep them occupied like the TV. Candles were lit on the coffee table in front of them and they were both feeling tired, but didn't want to go to bed.

The small pitter-patter of the raindrops hit the glass windows and the roof in synchronization. Sasuke sighed, pulling Sakura closer to him, and she clicked her tongue to the beat of the falling rain.

"Now you're a musician," he joked as she tried to make a little song out of it.

She laughed. "I wish."

Sakura looked up at Sasuke, who stared straight forward at the blank TV. She always felt so fortunate that he had chosen to be with a "plain Jane" like her when he could easily have any girl he wanted. Sakura noted that he looked especially handsome when he had on a blank stare, accenting his solemn but passionate dark eyes, his ski slope nose, and his thin lips that curved into an orgasmic smirk.

She put a hand on his neck. He turned his head, wondering what she was doing, and before he could say anything, Sakura kissed him. At first, it was just a simple kiss, but Sasuke immediately pulled her down so that she was lying on top of him and his hands were tangled in her long hair.

"I love you," she murmured. "All of you." She motioned down to his jeans and he understood what she meant. He pulled her off him for half a second to work the buckle on his belt and unzip his jeans before she took off her red turtleneck, leaving her half-naked in a pretty lace bra.

Aroused by his girlfriend, she squeaked as she felt something poke her between her thighs. He chuckled, pulled her back down to him, and kissed her roughly as she put her hands under his shirt.

"Sakura…" he moaned. "I need you."

He slid off the bottom half of her clothes and positioned himself under her, putting his hands on her hips and leading her down on him until…

_BOOM!_

Sakura shrieked, pushing herself off Sasuke and onto the floor. She wrapped the blankets around her and began shaking, rocking on the floor.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" he asked, covering himself. "Are you scared?"

"I—I don't like thunder," she admitted. "I've always been scared of it since I was a little kid. And the noises. I'm so scared, Sasuke-kun," she said.

"Oh, Sakura." He lifted her back onto the sofa and put his arms around her. "I told you, you don't need to be scared when you're with me. Because I'll protect you from everything."

"How can you protect me from thunder?" she asked, looking up at him with scared eyes.

"When I'm with you, I can be anything you want me to be. If you want, I'll be Thor. And control the thunder."

Sakura made a nervous giggle, holding Sasuke tighter to her. She was still practically naked, and he was still turned on, but they tried to ignore it as they embraced each other. "Thunder's just the noise."

"It's scary."

"It's okay." He kissed her forehead. "Thunder isn't scary. It doesn't hurt you."

"B-But…"

Another clap of thunder boomed, and Sakura shrieked, burying her face in Sasuke's chest, soaking his shirt with tears. "Sasuke-kun," she cried.

"Shh," he said, rubbing her bare back, avoiding her bra clasp. "I'm here, remember? Now, can you look at me?"

It took a moment, but she unclenched her fists from his shirt and looked up at him with teary eyes.

"Good girl." He took her hands in his own. "You don't have to get over it now. I know that you can't get over your fears overnight. But this storm looks like it'll last a week or so, and you'll have a week with me to learn how to overcome this fear."

"It'll be hard," she whispered.

"Of course it'll be hard. Nothing's easy." He kissed her cheeks. "But when you're with me, you can resolve this twice as fast. Now, can you smile for me?"

Her face remained frightened, but he gave her one of his smiles—the ones he only gave for her—and she began to smile back, the corners of her lips turning upwards.

"Good girl," he repeated. Then, he brought her back down so that she was on top of him, and he fiddled with the clasp on her pretty white bra.

"Are you still in the mood?" he asked. "Or do you not want to do it right now?"

Sakura paused as she felt Sasuke's fingers brush her skin softly. "Right now, I'm still scared of thunder," she answered. "But when I'm with you…I'm always in the mood."

He kissed her again, bringing her down so that he was inside her. Her bra clasp fell apart, the straps sliding down her shoulders. Leaning over, she blew out the candles—the only light source.

_BOOM!_

Sasuke felt Sakura jump, but instead of cowering in fear, she clung onto Sasuke until the sounds were gone.

"See?" he said. "You're almost there."

And she was, quite frankly, in both overcoming her fears, and in…

_BOOM!_

* * *

**innuendos everywhere heheheh**

**REVIEW PLEASE I LOVE YOU PLEASE**


	11. Laughter

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o11: Sakura wants a guy who can make her laugh. Sasuke, playing wing-man for Naruto, is willing to try to help his friend. Little did he know he would want her all to himself...

* * *

**.o11.  
**_Laughter_

Sakura lied on her stomach over her bed. She was swinging her feet back and forth while talking to her friends on the phone.

"What kind of guy do you like, Sakura? Describe your ideal tall, dark, and handsome man to us," she heard from the other line.

Sakura bit her lip, continuing to pump her legs. "Hm. Well, good-looking is always a plus, of course. But he has to have a great personality. He needs to be sweet, kind, polite, but not afraid to tell me what he wants. Oh, and most importantly…" Sakura paused. "He has to make me laugh."

She was fourteen when she told her friends who her ideal mate was. Since then, she lived by those words and had yet to find the boy that completed her while also eliciting laugher from her.

.

**three years later**

.

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he skipped over to Sakura. "What's up?"

"Good morning, Naruto," Sakura said as Naruto walked next to her on the way to school. "You're awfully chipper this morning."

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm here with you! When I'm at your side, I'm always happy!"

Sakura smiled, knowing how greatly Naruto liked her. Unfortunately, she didn't like him in the way that he wanted to…

"Naruto!" Sakura's friends went over and greeted him. "Hey!"

"Hi…" he struggled to remember their names. "Harin and Kinata?"

"Close. _Karin _and Hinata," her redheaded friend said. She eyed Naruto up and down. "You look hyper. Did you eat too much sugar?"

"Nope!" He put an arm around Sakura, pulling her closer to him. "I'm just happy because I can see and be with Sakura-chan!"

Karin giggled, and Sakura rolled her eyes, prepared for the teasing that would come. Hinata blushed, looking down at her feet as if she didn't want to see this. But Hinata was always the nice girl. She wouldn't make fun of Sakura.

"The bell's going to ring soon," Sakura said, pulling Naruto's arm off her. "So we're going to get to class."

"Alright. Bye, Sakura-chan!" he leaned in to kiss her cheek, but Sakura pushed him off and took Karin and Hinata by their arms.

"Bye!" Karin shouted for her friend as she was dragged to homeroom. Hinata kept looking at her feet.

.

.

.

Naruto plopped down at his desk next to Sasuke in homeroom. Sasuke rolled his eyes, knowing the look Naruto had on.

"Love struck Naruto," he smirked. "So, did you kiss her?"

"Almost," Naruto said. "But she said she had to go to homeroom. Kami, teme, she's so pretty. Don't you think so?"

Sasuke thought of what Naruto exactly saw in Sakura. She was very pretty, but for some reason she didn't stick out much to him. She just blended into the crowd.

"Why don't you ask her on a date?" Sasuke asked.

"I would, but she always rejects me." Naruto sighed. "I like her a lot."

Sasuke saw how serious his friend was for this girl. "Hey, dobe…" he said. "If you want, I can talk to her for you."

The blonde's eyes brightened up, and he said, "Really? You would do that for me?"

"You owe me big time," Sasuke said.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto said, "I knew you wouldn't do this for me for free. Alright, fine."

"I'll talk to her at lunch."

"Thanks, teme." They turned forward to hear the teacher talk about the morning announcements, while Sasuke occasionally turned to Naruto to see him daydreaming, puckering his lips once in a while.

.

.

.

"Naruto _obviously _likes you to the point where it's not even funny anymore," Karin said as she opened her bento. "Cut him some slack. He's cute. He has a good personality. And he's hilarious."

"Yeah, but…" Sakura began. "He doesn't give me this _spark_. I just can't connect with him. He makes me laugh a few times, but I sometimes do that just to give him credit for trying."

Hinata didn't say anything. She ate quietly, refusing to look up at her friends.

"Hinata? You alright?" Sakura asked. "You seemed ill ever since this morning."

"I'm fine," she murmured.

"You're Sakura, right?"

Sakura looked up to see one of the students in the other class loom over her.

"Yeah. Who are you?" she asked.

"Uchiha Sasuke. I'm Naruto's friend."

"Oh. Good to meet you," she said. He was really good looking. She wondered why she'd never seen him before.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Uh…" she looked back at Karin and Hinata, who were silently urging her to get her ass up and go make out with him. "Sure."

She got out of her seat and followed him down to an isolated part of the hallway.

"You need to go out with Naruto." His voice was crisp and to the point.

"What?" she said, taken aback. "Why?"

"Because…" Sasuke didn't know how to phrase it. "I can't put it gently, so I'll just state facts. He's smitten with you. He thinks you're _the one _for him. And he keeps bothering the hell out of me, to put it quite frankly."

"Oh."

Now Sakura felt bad. But she didn't want to lead him on by asking him on a date when she didn't like him, either.

"Yeah."

"Why don't you like him?" Sasuke asked. "Girls consider him cute. He's a nice guy—wait, are you one of those girls who likes 'bad boys?'" he said, stopping halfway.

"No. It's not that. It's just…" Sakura sighed. "He can't make me laugh naturally. I want a guy who can induce laughter in me."

He scoffed. "You want someone who can make you laugh? Naruto can't make you laugh? That's something right there."

"Hey!" Sakura said.

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Fine. How about this? Let me try to make you laugh. I think you're pretty."

Her lips twirled up in a smile, and she furrowed her eyebrows. "Ha, nice try. But you probably don't think that."

"What if I do?" he stepped closer.

She stepped back. "Whatever. But, if you make me laugh, I'll go on a date with Naruto. Anyway, I've got to go. See you." She turned to leave, but he shouted out, "I'm going to make you laugh!"

"Go for it!" she shouted back before she left.

.

.

.

Sasuke, ignoring his mission of getting Naruto a date, began searching up lame jokes and corny puns on the Internet, trying them out in private each day later.

"Really, Sasuke?" her eyebrow raised as she looked at him with a kind of "are you serious?" face.

"No laughs?"

"Nope."

.

.

.

"So, teme, how's it going?" Naruto asked. "Will she fall into my arms yet?"

"I'm working on it," he lied.

"Hurry up! I can't wait!"

.

**many days later**

.

"Another one?" she asked. "Let's hear it."

"Sakura," he began. "I think…I like you."

Sakura didn't say anything. Then, she burst into fits of giggles, covering her mouth to stop them from leaking out.

"Okay," she said. "You win. That was _hilarious_. I'll go on a date with Naruto."

"No."

He put his hands on her shoulders. "I don't want you to date him."

"Why not?"

"Because he can't make you laugh."

"And you're saying _you _can?" she asked. "You're stone cold."

"I just made you laugh right now, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you weren't serious."

"Maybe I was." He gripped her shoulders tighter.

Her eyes widened as she realized he wasn't joking anymore. "Wait—" she said as his mouth got closer and closer to hers. "I can't—"

"You can't what?" he asked.

"I can't break your friendship with Naruto."

"He doesn't have to know," he murmured. "Besides, I can make you laugh every day if you're with me."

"I don't know…"

"Think about it." He pressed his lips to her mouth and brought her closer to him.

"I don't like the idea," she muttered as she pulled away for air. "But we can try and make it work."

.

.

.

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he approached her again. "What's up?"

Her mouth was still sore from Sasuke's kisses. She felt bad looking at Naruto, his face happy, hoping for a date.

"I'm gonna try and make you laugh! Sasuke-teme says you want a guy who can make you laugh!"

She smiled. "Yeah."

"Okay, get this: a guy walks into a bar, and…"

Over Naruto's shoulder, she saw Sasuke, who smirked at her, saluting her with two fingers before giving her a wink.

"—he says, 'You mean there's a drink named Rikko?"

She saw Sasuke smirk again, and laughed.

"I knew I could make you laugh!" he said. "Funny, right?"

"Oh—" she began. "Yeah."

"So, will you go out with me?" he asked hopefully.

She opened her mouth to say no, but remembered what Sasuke said to her after they pulled apart from their kiss.

_"Just one date with him."_

"Okay."

She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. But she remembered what else Sasuke told her.

_"I'll settle everything when it comes to it."_

And she remembered laughing when he told her.

* * *

**wow, this was actually kind of somber LOL**

**poor naruto. and hinata.**

**i made karin sakura's friend because i dont like ino...but i dont like karin either. i just like her better than ino.**


	12. Steel

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o12: Sakura promises that she's going to break Sasuke's heart of steel, but how can she if he keeps closing it off to her?

* * *

**.o12.  
**_Steel_

Instead of having a heart of stone, Sasuke had a heart of steel.

It wasn't impenetrable, but it was hard to break through. Sakura vowed that she would be the one to make Sasuke open up his steel heart and let her in.

"Sasuke-kun!" she greeted him warmly as she skipped up to him at their training place. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"…We always meet here," he said. Sakura paused, feeling incredibly stupid.

"Yeah. But, I mean, at this time. Since, you know, Naruto's not here and whatnot…"

Ramble. Ramble. Ramble.

"Hn." He turned away from her and leaned over the bridge, his elbows resting as he crossed his arms. Sakura went next to him to see what he was looking at, but he didn't meet her gaze. He just stared into his reflection on the water below.

"So, uh," she began. "Nice day."

"Hn."

_Damnit, Sakura!_ She thought. _Can't you think of anything better?_

"How are you?" she asked, trying to recover from her past mistakes.

"Fine."

"That's good. I'm doing well, too. Yesterday we went to celebrate my cousin's birthday—cousin, on my mother's side, and—"

She realized he wasn't paying attention to her. He kept staring down at the water and she stopped halfway in her sentence, giving up.

"Sakura-chan! Teme!"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she heard Naruto run up to them, panting heavily. "Nice day out, right?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke, and then back at Naruto. "Yeah. Nice day."

.

.

.

After training was finished, Sakura wiped the sweat off her head by using some of the river water to wash her face.

"Sasuke-kun, do you want to go to eat something?" she asked as he took off his shirt. "I'm hungry."

"No thanks," he said. "I'm going to train some more."

"I'll go with you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he took off his coat. "I'm starved, too!"

"Well…" Sakura began, crestfallen. "Okay. Anyway, we're going now. Bye, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn."

Naruto walked happily beside her while Sakura was brooding. Why didn't Sasuke like her? How could she make herself more attractive to him?

"Something wrong, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, stopping in his tracks. "You look sad."

"I'm alright," she said. "Let's go eat!"

.

.

.

Sasuke was cold to nearly everyone but his team, and even then he didn't let his true emotions show through. Ever since his family was gone from his life and Itachi was a fugitive from Konoha, he became a stoic person and had a hard personality.

But there was his surrogate family—his team. There was Kakashi, Naruto, and…Sakura.

He knew how much she tried to impress him by inviting him to eat and making small talk. And he appreciated how much she cared for him, not just as a fangirl, but as a teammate.

Unfortunately, he forced himself not to return her feelings in fear that she would get in the way of his objectives. Plus, he didn't want to danger her in any way. So his steel façade was partly just an act to keep her safe.

Sasuke cared for the whole team. But he felt like he cared for Sakura the most, because she wanted so badly to see past him and melt his steel heart. She truly wanted to know the real him.

His kunai hit the middle of the tree trunk he was aiming at. Pulling it out roughly, he cleaned it in the river water, ruining its smooth perfection, and put it back in his weapon case.

He looked out to where the city was and sighed. Knowing Naruto, they were probably at Ichiraku's.

"I think I can spare a few minutes," Sasuke muttered as he began to run with ease towards the village.

.

.

.

Naruto was enjoying his eighth bowl of beef ramen as Sakura was still finishing up her first. She ate with dainty manners as he began to scarf the noodles down like a dehydrated man downing water.

"You're disgusting," Sakura half-joked, staring at Naruto, who patted his belly and burped. He grinned, a noodle hanging off from his lips. "I know. Another one, please!"

"Hey." Naruto and Sakura turned around to see who it was. "Can I sit here?"

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said. "Uhm, yeah. Of course." She felt her face go red and was still surprised that he had come to meet them.

"Teme! What's up? Hey, hey—waiter, a bowl for my friend here!"

Sasuke didn't say anything. He put his elbows on the table like he did at the bridge and stared straight forward.

"So, uh, how was training?"

"Good."

"That's good to hear. But you need to relax once in a while. Here," Sakura said, handing him a spare cup and pouring him some tea. "Drink up."

"Thanks." He took the tea and downed it, ignoring the burning feeling in his throat.

"Wow."

Soon, the waiter brought Sasuke a bowl of ramen, and Sasuke nodded his head as a thanks.

"So," he began, trying to stir up a conversation. "How is everything?"

Sakura was surprised that he had initiated the conversation. "It's, uh, great. Thank you."

Naruto wasn't paying attention to his friends as he was now on his fourteenth bowl. Slurping noises were heard from behind Sakura.

"Great."

Sasuke poured himself more tea as he continued to look straight forward. "I just, uh, want to say…I'm sorry."

"For what? You have nothing to be sorry about."

"I don't treat you the best," he muttered. "But I appreciate what you do for me especially."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Sakura felt her heart flutter a little bit. "Thank you. And I, uh, treat you well because…I really like you."

"I know," he said, a little embarrassed for her to tell him that straight to his face.

"And I care for you."

"I know."

"So thanks. For letting me care about you."

"My pleasure," he said. "Waiter—another round of tea, please?"

Sakura smiled as he poured her a fresh cup. She knew that somehow, she had pierced a hole in that steel heart of his, and soon, he would let her in.

* * *

**sorry for not updating, i'm so busy this week and my computer is having the blue screen of death. again.**

**but i will finish soon i promise ilu**


	13. Hallucinate

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o13: He's back and can't explain why.

* * *

**.o13.  
**_Hallucinate_

She was surprised to see him outside her door. Rubbing her eyes, she made sure to see if it really was him. Back with her.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

"What, are you surprised to see me, Sakura?" he asked. "I missed you."

It wasn't the Sasuke she knew. The cold-hearted Sasuke tried to kill her, so she was still wary. She sensed his chakra.

"You're not Sasuke-kun," she said, stepping back. "You're not."

He stepped closer. "I've changed."

She didn't want to fall into this guy's trap. If it were Sasuke, he could try to kill her. And if it weren't…they could still try to kill her.

"Go away." She pushed him off while running back into her house, locking the door. She half-expected it to tumble down. Instead, she looked out the window to see Sasuke continuing to stand in front of her door as though he was waiting for her to come out.

Sakura couldn't help it. She shouldn't let her guard down, but she was so happy that he was back…

She opened the door. Sasuke smiled—_smiled_!

"Took you long enough." He handed her a rose. "For you."

"W-What?"

"Rose. Red petals. From the flower shop." He handed it to her. "For you," he repeated.

She took it daintily. "It's beautiful."

"Only for a beautiful girl." He gave her another _smile_.

Something was definitely wrong here.

.

.

.

"Sakura-chan—he's—" Naruto said, muttering incoherent words as he struggled to point to several different directions.

"I know," Sakura said. "He visited me this morning."

"He—_what_?"

"Yeah."

"B-But…I thought…" Naruto was tongue-tied. "I don't understand!"

"You don't have to." Sasuke appeared from behind them and put a hand on both their shoulders. "Let's not train today. Why don't we do something fun?"

"I don't know…" Naruto said, wary of this new Sasuke. "I mean, I still have questions and stuff, and until then, I'm not sure if I can trust you."

Sasuke removed his hand from Naruto's shoulder, but kept his firmly on Sakura's. "Let's talk on the way."

.

.

.

"Is that—"

"No way! Uchiha Sasuke?"

"When did he get back?"

There were murmurs as Sasuke walked alongside Naruto and Sakura in the village. Sakura held her head low and Naruto said, "Move on, people, there's nothing to look at here!"

"I can't believe it," Sakura said. "Two years we've been trying to get you back, and now you just…appear. Like, out of thin air."

"Yup."

"With a behavior change."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "People change."

"Not this drastically," she said.

He ignored the comment. "I'm hungry. Does anyone want some lunch?"

.

**a few hours later**

.

They were in his apartment while Naruto was passed out on the couch. His hand was on her neck—his time, holding her lovingly—while the other was on her back. She had her hands on his shoulders as she pulled apart once or twice for air.

"We can't—" she began, kissing him hurriedly. "If someone sees me—"

"It's okay," he whispered, turning his head to kiss her at a better angle. "I won't let them see you."

"B-But Naruto…"

"He's out cold," Sasuke said. "We have the whole night just to ourselves." He reached for the hem of her shirt to pull it up, but she stopped him.

He looked at her, confused. "What? You don't want to?"

"I—I don't know," she said. "Truthfully, this whole day has been surreal. You came back. You're different. And we're kissing right now. The other Sasuke wouldn't act like this."

"The other Sasuke is gone."

Sakura put a hand on his cheek. "What happened to him?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I dunno."

Pulling her back down so that she was on his lap, he said, "This can be our little secret. Just you and me, alright? No one else."

Sakura felt herself falling back into his charms. "Just tonight?" she murmured, almost sadly.

"No," he kissed her. "As long as you want."

"Tell me you love me," she said abruptly. Sasuke paused.

"What?"

"Tell me that you love me. Even if you don't mean it," Sakura said. "Please."

He stroked her hair. "I love you. Really, I do. I'm not saying it just to make you happy. But I love you."

Sakura felt tears prick at her eyes. "I love you."

He kissed her again, tugging at her shirt hem once more. And this time, she let him pull it over her head.

Even her loudest moans didn't stir Naruto. Not one bit.

.

.

.

"W-What happened?" Sakura said, pressing her hand to her forehead. "Naruto, are you—Naruto!"

Sakura rushed over to help Naruto from the ground. He was bleeding from his lip, and had a deep cut in his forehead.

"Sakura…" he said weakly. "I saw him. He was here. With us."

"What are you talking about?" she said, angrily. "Who was here? Who was with us?" She put her hands over his wounds.

"T-Teme…" he groaned in pain. "Tobi, he…he put us in a genjutsu. What we saw wasn't real. It was only…a hallucination. Sasuke's not here. He was never with us."

Sakura paused and took her hands off.

"You mean, Sasuke-kun…"

"That never happened. He never came home to us."

"But then…" Sakura said. "He doesn't love—"

Naruto didn't say anything. He closed his eyes, unconscious. Sakura was so shocked she forgot to heal him.

_Everything was a lie_.

"He doesn't love me," she whispered. "He never loved me."

She covered her mouth with her hand and sobbed quietly. "It was all a hallucination."

Looking down at Naruto, she held her tears as best she could before she put her hands back onto his wounds, green chakra shakily floating from her palms to his skin.

"Nothing was real…"

* * *

**so i think RTN is kinda gonna be like sasuke never actually really came home but it was all a genjutsu and shit**

**although i think sasuke loves sakura no matter canon or RTN woot**

**plus i watched spiderman and omg andrew garfield is so hot LOL**

**but i still like the old ones better**


	14. Armor

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o14: Ever since his parents' divorce, Sasuke has always been wary of the "knight in shining armor," since he doesn't want to be who his father was, although there's a girl he's particularly fond of...

* * *

**.o14.  
**_Armor_

Sasuke stopped believing in fairytales when his parents divorced.

Although he didn't care for them, he knew the basic premise: knight in shining armor saves damsel in distress, which was how he viewed every happy couple that he saw.

Unfortunately, the knight in shining armor he looked up to turned out to be a douchebag in tin foil.

"Where's daddy?" Sasuke asked as Mikoto picked him up, her eyes sad.

"Daddy's…" she sighed. "Daddy's not coming home for a while, Sasuke-kun. So until then, we have to make the best out of it. Okay?"

"When is he coming back?"

He saw his mother's eyes water, and Itachi took Sasuke from her arms. "He's on vacation for a little bit, Sasuke." He bounced Sasuke up and down, but Sasuke saw that Itachi, too, had the same look his mom did.

"Why can't we come with him?"

"Because it's just something Daddy has to do by himself." He kissed Sasuke's forehead instead of poking it. "Come on. Let's get you tucked in."

.

**a few years later**

.

Sasuke understood that his parents were divorced. He vaguely remembered the image of his father from his five year old mind, and since his mother had gotten rid of all pictures including his dad, he couldn't form a clear image.

Therefore, he was always wary of other guys who tried to pick up girls with their cheesy lines and shy romances, since he figured someone would always get hurt in the end.

He had crushes, but never did anything about them because he didn't want to end up like his father. So he let the girls that he sort of liked be taken away by more douchebags on top of their donkeys while their tinfoil armor shone in the sun.

Sasuke sighed. He sat down at his desk as his friend, Naruto, came up to him.

"What's up?" Naruto said.

"Hn." He gave Naruto the usual response, but Naruto was able to decode Sasuke's words.

"Rough day?"

"Yeah."

Naruto sat down next to Sasuke. "You gotta chill, man! Chill out! I mean, you spend so much time worrying about shit that I don't even know about, and you just need to loosen up. Look," Naruto said, pinching Sasuke's forearm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"See? You're not loose enough." Naruto moved farther back so Sasuke couldn't retaliate.

"Dobe, if I were that loose I'd probably be pregnant."

"But you're not…" Naruto began. "Oh."

"Hn."

"Can I sit here?"

They both looked up to see their classmate, Sakura, ask if she could take the available desk next to Sasuke.

"Sure," Naruto said, speaking for Sasuke. "What's up, Sakura-chan?"

She made herself comfortable as she sighed. "Oh, nothing much. Just, you know, homework and stuff. The usual."

"Ahh."

"…You don't do homework, so you wouldn't understand," she replied back to Naruto, who had a confused look on his face. "But Sasuke would. Right?"

"Hn."

"He means yeah," Naruto said.

Sakura smiled and took out her notebooks and pencils.

"Class is starting, everyone!" the teacher said at the front of the room. "Now, how is everybody?"

Sasuke watched as Sakura replied, "Good, sensei." She was pretty and had a really nice smile.

"Psst, teme," Naruto said. "Can I borrow a pencil?"

Sasuke was stirred out of his thoughts. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever." He tossed Naruto a pencil, and he tried to catch it, only to be poked with the pointy part.

"Damnit, teme!"

.

**half a year later**

.

"Go ask her on a date, you dick," Naruto said, attempting to push Sasuke towards Sakura. "I know you like her, and I'm pretty sure she probably likes you too."

"No." He stuck his heels and turned to face Naruto. "I don't want to."

"Why not? She's pretty. Otherwise, some other guy might sweep her off her feet."

"So?"

Naruto paused, looking at Sasuke's angry and slightly hurt expression. "It's something more, isn't it?"

"What do you mean, something more?"

"I mean, you're afraid to ask her. I don't know why, but it's probably something that affected you when you were younger."

"When did you get all Sigmund Freud on me?" Sasuke said defensively.

"I don't know who that is," Naruto said.

Sasuke groaned. "Whatever." He walked past Naruto, away from Sakura, before he was caught by the wrist.

"You can tell me, Sasuke. I'm your friend."

"I have nothing to say," he responded.

Naruto sighed. "I know when something's troubling you. First, I can see that you like her but you're too afraid to make a move. Why?"

Sasuke sighed. "Do you promise you won't tell?"

"Cross my heart."

"Fine."

He explained to his dumbass friend how his parents divorced when he was young, and how unhappy his mother and brother were and how the whole family broke apart. He vaguely remembered the fights his parents had when they were still together and how he wouldn't be able to sleep because of all the scary noises they were making.

"I don't want to be the guy she thinks is a knight in shining armor, because what if I'm not? What if I turn out to be like my dad?"

He didn't expect a hug from Naruto. "You're not going to be. You're the greatest guy I know. And I'm sure—I swear on my life—that you'll be three times the man your dad was."

"Thanks." He pulled apart, and Naruto looked behind him. "You know, she's still there. Why don't you give it a shot?"

"I think I might."

Naruto watched as Sasuke approached Sakura slowly. His lips were moving, and she was blushing, and then he was smirking.

Then, she took her cell phone out of her bag and traded with his, their fingers texting quickly.

When she turned to leave, she gave him a big smile and a wave, and he smirked back as he walked towards Naruto.

"So I'm assuming it went well?"

"Hn." _Yeah_.

"Good."

* * *

**omg im so far behind on upating aposeituaopwieutapweutoawitu**

**please review review review i love reviews hehehe**

**grrr**


	15. Blabbermouth

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o15: Sakura promise that he wouldn't tell Sasuke her little secret. It's a shame that Naruto's just a huge blabbermouth.

* * *

**.o15.  
**_Blabbermouth_

They were at playtime in the daycare. Sakura was looking over at Sasuke, who was surrounded by many other girls. Then, she looked back at Naruto.

"You have to pinky promise not to tell," Sakura said, holding out her pinky. "And no crossing anything," she said sternly.

Naruto sighed, uncrossing his toes and put his legs in front of him. "Okay. I promise."

"I like Sasuke-kun," she said softly.

"You do?" he shouted. Everyone turned to look at the two.

"Shh!" Sakura said. "Now, you've gotta pinky promise that you won't tell."

"I promise." He connected his pinky with hers and they sealed a pact between friends.

.

.

.

He always teased her about it whenever the three were together.

"So, Sakura-chan, gonna make a move yet?" he said, poking her in the ribs. Sakrua blushed heavily, pinching Naruto.

"Stop it!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Make a move on who?"

"Nobody," Sakura said, looking down at her feet.

Naruto wiggled his eyebrows, before he turned to Sasuke. "So, teme, any pretty ladies catch your eye?"

He, too, saw the faintest blush appear on Sasuke's cheeks. "No."

"Awwh, come on. I know when you're lying!"

"I'm not lying," Sasuke muttered.

"How 'bout _you_, Naruto?" Sakura retaliated, angry at Naruto for almost giving her away. "Any girls—or guys—catch _your _eye?"

Naruto paused. "Yeah. I really like Hinata-chan from Class 2-B. She's so pretty, but she's shy, and I'm afraid that if I go up to her she might…" he trailed on and on before Sakura turned to Sasuke and said, "Well, that backfired, didn't it?"

"Yeah."

They walked to their class, leaving him behind sputtering nonsense about him and Hinata floating away on a magical cloud made of cotton candy.

.

.

.

_He's perfection_, Sakura thought, sneaking glances at Sasuke while he was copying down the notes in his notebook. _How can one be so handsome?_

"Something wrong?" Sasuke asked as he caught Sakura staring at him. She quickly turned away. "Nope. Nothing. Just wanted to see if you had a pen or something."

"Yeah. Here." He handed her a blue ink pen, and she blushed, taking it although she didn't need it.

"Thanks."

"Hn."

She looked down at her own notebook, full of scribbles and the occasional _Uchiha Sakura_, which she covered up securely.

Sasuke snuck a quick look at her.

_Kami, she's beautiful._

He looked back up at the teacher, and took notes, trying hard not to look to his side.

.

.

.

"I know you like her," Naruto said as he and Sasuke went to go to the cafeteria, while Sakura was eating in one of her clubs.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke said, acting defensively. "I don't like anyone."

"Sure," Naruto said, stressing out the word. "I'm not an idiot, teme. You like her. I can see it in your eyes. It's the same look that _I _have whenever I think about Hinata-chan."

"So why haven't you guys gone out yet?" Sasuke said, turning the tables on Naruto.

"Because she's too shy to approach. Plus, she doesn't even know me, I think. But you and she—you guys are friends, if you catch my drift."

"What makes you think it's Sakura?"

"It's not?" Naruto asked. "Well, damn. I thought…aw, fuck."

"Hn." Sasuke felt his face heat up. _Too close!_

.

.

.

The three of them met up at their lockers, making small talk about how lunch was.

"So how was the debate?" Sasuke asked, exchanging books for other ones.

"Not so great. We lost," Sakura said. "But it was pretty heated."

"Hn."

Naruto popped up in the middle of them. "Psst, Sakura, did you know that Sasuke likes a girl in this school?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yup! But don't worry, it's not you."

"Oh." She looked crestfallen. "Well, that's good then," she mumbled.

Sasuke saw Sakura's change in expression. "He's lying. I don't like anyone."

"Oh." She seemed a little happier, but still pretty down.

"Why don't we just go to our next class?" Sasuke said, closing his locker. Sakura followed behind him and Naruto, and she dragged her feet on the way there.

.

.

.

"Psst, teme," Naruto said, passing a note over to Sasuke. "I have a secret to tell you."

Sasuke crumpled up the note and tossed it back. "I don't want to hear it," he whispered furiously, hoping the teacher didn't catch him.

"But you'll want to hear it! It's pretty juicy!"

"I don't care."

"Shut up!" Sakura said, raising her voice slightly.

"Something wrong?" the teacher asked. She stopped writing on the chalkboard to see what the commotion was about.

"Nope, nothing's wrong," they said. She gave them a stern look, and continued to write.

"It's about Sakura-chan…" he said, sing-songing. He hoped Sakura hadn't heard her name in the conversation.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It's a secret. That involves you."

Oh, what the hell. He was interested now.

"Fine. What is it?" Sasuke said.

"Sakura…" he muttered some gibberish, trying not to get caught.

"What?" Sasuke said, leaning forward, trying to hear Naruto's words.

"Sakura told…" the rest was still gibberish.

"I can't understand you," Sasuke said, frustrated. He turned back to his notebook. Finally, Naruto had had enough.

"Sakura likes you!" he shouted.

The whole classroom stopped and turned to face Naruto, who was red from embarrassment. Sasuke perked up, and Sakura froze.

"Naruto," the teacher began. "Stop disrupting our class." She saw how embarrassed Sakura was, and gave her a look of sympathy, before turning back to the board and pretending everything was alright

Sasuke looked over at Sakura, who was still stiff as a board. Soon, she got up, and said, "Sensei, I need to go to the infirmary."

"Everything alright, Sakura?" she asked.

"Yeah. Just, uh. Headache." She packed up her things and left, everyone's eyes watching her go.

Sasuke turned to Naruto with a look saying, _"I'm gonna kill you later_."

.

.

.

Sasuke visited her in the nurse. "Are you alright?" he asked, pushing back the curtains to find Sakura, tearstained.

"I'm fine," she said, turning away from him. "Uh, bad migraine."

He sat down next to her. "What Naruto said…is that, uh, true?"

She refused to look at him.

"You don't have to be upset," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine."

"No, it's not," she said. "I've liked you for the longest time. I made him promise not to tell, but the fact that he broke it…" Sakura sighed, hiccupping. "You probably think I'm ridiculous."

"I don't. Because…" he paused. "I like you, too."

She froze. "It's not funny."

"I'm not joking." He made her turn her head to look into his eyes. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

She stared at him, and then buried her face in her hands. "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit," she said over and over again. "This can't be happening."

"It is, though. So what are we going to do about it? Are we going to stay friends and pretend nothing happened, or are we going to do something about it?"

"I don't know," she said. "Ugh. Naruto's such a blabbermouth."

"He is." He took a tissue from the table nearby and wiped her tears. "But it can be a good thing sometimes."

She sniffed. "I guess."

"Can you smile for me?" he said. "Smile."

She twitched her lips.

"You can do better than that," he said, rolling his eyes. "Do I have to put my fingers on your cheeks?"

Sakura sighed, giving him a big smile. He smirked at her, and patted her back. "Good for you. So, you want to come back to class?"

"Not really," Sakura admitted. "But I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Nope."

* * *

**why is love month so much more popular than 7:31 LOL**

**is it because it's bad? o.0**

**i have a lot of cliches anyway**

**REVIEW**


	16. Shadows

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o16: He comes from the shadows and goes back in them. Sakura sees him in her dreams, and even though he tries to hurt her...it's the last piece of Sasuke she can hold on to.

* * *

**.o16.  
**_Shadows_

He comes from the shadows in the night. Sakura sees him in her dreams (or nightmares, whichever is the correct way to put it). He lunges for her throat. But at the same time, he has this soft look in his eyes, as if he doesn't _want _to kill her.

Then, she wakes up from a cold sweat and pants heavily, burying her face in her hands. She has the same dream every night, and every time he looks like he's about to say something that she doesn't hear.

Sakura dreads going to sleep. If she could stay awake forever, like Gaara, she would. Anything's better than having something so close to her but not being able to reach it.

But it's nighttime again, and she's already had loads of caffeinated tea. She's hyper, but doesn't want the caffeine crash to come down on her and knock her out, so she keeps downing more and more.

"I think I'm going crazy," she mutters as she prepares more tea, looking at the cups that are strewn everywhere. She laughs, then. "Oh wait. I am crazy."

She sits on the hard floor drinking her tea, because sitting on the sofa might make her sleepy.

The clock reads midnight. She shrugs. There's only eight more hours before daylight, and then training, which means that she can't afford to be asleep.

Her eyes flutter shut for just a second, but she wakes herself back up, pinching herself.

"Damnit, Sakura, don't fall asleep!"

She doesn't listen to herself, and eventually, she thinks that just five minutes won't be enough for the dream to occur. So she lies down on the wood floor and drifts off into slumber.

.

.

.

_It's dark out. She's by herself on a mission, and she hears something in the bushes. Something that's not an animal._

_"Come out!" she shouts. "Reveal yourself!"_

_Out of the shadows steps a figure she knows so well. She'd spent all her time with him when they were younger, in a team._

_She lowers her kunai, shocked._

_"Sasuke…kun?"_

_He walks towards her._

_"Fancy seeing you here," he says._

_She realizes she has her guard down, and puts her kunai back up. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I could ask you the same thing."_

_He steps even closer to her, and in a blink of an eye, her kunai is being twirled around his fingers._

_"How—" she looks at her hand and then back at him. "I don't—"_

_"You need to work on your reflexes, Sakura," he teases her. "Anyway." He pockets the kunai and takes out his katana. "I don't want to use it if I don't have to. So don't provoke me."_

_"Why are you doing this?" she says, stepping back as he steps forward._

_"I have to."_

_"You have to what? Sasuke-kun, I don't understand."_

_Sasuke smirked. "There's nothing _to _understand. It's just how this works." He's now behind her, and Sakura can't figure out how he moves so quickly. His katana is at her neck, and his arm is around her waist, holding her tight to him._

_"I'll only kill you if I have to," he said. "And right now, I don't have to. But I can," he says, pressing the sword deeper. A trickle of blood runs down into her shirt._

_She's frozen against him, but he's warm, and she loves the smell of his hair against her cheek._

_"I still love you," she says softly. "But I have a duty to protect my village, and I can't let you get in the way."_

_He chuckles. "Oh, Sakura. How you've changed." Then, he turns her around so that she's facing him. He puts the katana back in its sheath and his arm is still around her waist._

_"Look at you," he says, his finger against her jaw. "You've grown to be a fine woman."_

_Normally, those comments would have melted her. But she wasn't in the time for melting._

_"And you've grown to be a murderer."_

_He held her tighter to him, squeezing the breath out of her. His eyes were soft, but this time, unlike the other times, he didn't go for her throat._

_His fingers are now touching her lips. "So plump and red, like blood."_

_She's struggling to get away from him, but he holds her close and traps her._

_"Wonderful."_

_Then, he leans in and she feels his lips against hers. She doesn't know what's happening, and this isn't like the Sasuke she usually sees. But this nightmare has turned into a dream, and she wants to enjoy it while she can._

_He continues to kiss her, but she reaches for the kunai._

There's only one chance_, she thinks sadly before she's ready to pierce it through his heart._

.

.

.

Sasuke carried her to her bed, tucking her in. She always left the window unlocked. Silly Sakura.

"Nngh," she moans softly. He makes sure that she's not going to stir. He tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Good night," he presses his lips to her forehead. He knows what she dreams about.

And he walks out of the window, back into the shadows.

* * *

**spiderman and shit lol**


	17. Younger

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o17: When they were young, everything was good. That is, until Sasuke left.

* * *

**.o17.  
**_Younger_

It seems like everything was alright when we were younger. Every day was a good day, and every friend we made stayed a friend.

That is, until we got older and everything fell apart.

Sasuke was probably the main reason for us realizing that we couldn't stay young forever. I think that the moment Sasuke decided to leave us as a broken team—the night he walked out of Konoha—was the night that everything shattered. We were no longer whole. We weren't _young _anymore.

Sakura, especially. She grew the most after Sasuke left. The day after he abandoned us, she was in this kind of deep depression that was so bad she couldn't even _cry_. She just trailed her feet, talked in a monotone voice (and that's only when she felt that she _had _to talk), and was literally a walking ghost. The color drained from her face. She didn't have that usual spark she always had whenever the team was together.

I, too, have changed. No longer am I just the joking Naruto who makes a fool out of himself and doesn't take things seriously. When Sasuke left, I vowed to myself I would bring him back. Not just for me, but for Sakura. I didn't want to see the girl I love go down into a deep spiral like this.

I'm almost seventeen now, and Sasuke hasn't come home yet. We've seen him many times, with Sai—our "new" team member. He'll never be Sasuke, and he'll never replace Sasuke. But he's still our team member, and we cherish him…even though he can be a dick, literally speaking. It's an inside joke.

And Sakura—well.

She's not a fangirl anymore. She doesn't squeal over the most useless things, care about just her looks or her hair, and trains hard. In fact, she's gotten so strong that she's scared off half the ANBU team. Including the leader. She got back her spunky personality, although it wasn't the same before Sasuke left. Still, she's doing really well for herself.

It seems like only a short time ago that we were all young, innocent, and naïve. We thought nothing bad would happen to us, because, after all: we're ninjas. We make sure nothing goes wrong. That's what we do.

.

**a few years back**

.

"Sakura-chan!" I would yell as I ran up to Sakura, sitting next to Sasuke and fluttering her long eyelashes.

"What, Naruto?" she would growl angrily at me. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

I sighed. "With _him_? Ugh, Sakura-chan, you have poor taste in men." She rolled her eyes and kept trying to have Sasuke pay attention to her. He seemed deep in thought, his elbows resting on the Academy's desk while he folded his hands.

I took a seat next to her, trying to make small talk. "So, uh, how was dinner last night?"

She stopped flirting with Sasuke to turn back to me. "What do you mean, how was dinner last night? What are you, a stalker?" the tone of her voice was harsh, but I brushed it off.

"I mean…did you enjoy it?"

She groaned and turned away from me. Seeing how persistent she was in trying to attract Sasuke, I decided to give up that day, because I obviously wasn't going to get her from talking to the "pretty boy" to talking to the "weird stalker who asks people how dinner was last night."

And then, when we found out we were all in teams…

Everything changed again at that point.

.

.

.

We fought. We laughed. We cried. We bonded. We grew.

The team was the surrogate family that I never really got to experience. Sakura-chan, teme, and Kakashi-sensei…they're my friends. My family. I trust them. And Sai's the newest edition to this pack, but he's fitting in really well.

Anyway, we would all train and spar with each other, and usually I would train with Sasuke because if I paired up with Sakura, I wouldn't want to hit her, and if I paired with Kakashi, then Sakura would be stuck with Sasuke, who might not go easy on her.

So I always paired up with Sasuke. Not that I minded. I wanted to punch his face in half the time, as a sort of "fuck you for stealing my girl unintentionally" and "I love you, man, so this is how I'm showing affection."

Sometimes, I would win. But most of the time—dare I say it—he usually won because he was so concentrated on training and revenge and brothers and all that jazz. Well, he got what he wanted, didn't he? And he regrets it now.

I'm not going to say _I told you so_, because that'll make me feel like a jerk and it won't do anything for anyone. However, I'll tell you this.

Things have changed. People change. But somehow, we try to make it work. I know for a fact that Sasuke genuinely cared for Sakura: not just as a team member, like the rest of us. He told me vaguely during the heat of a mission, and he showed it in his eyes and his actions, even if he tried to hide it. She was something more to him than an "annoying fangirl who trails him around constantly."

I'm not going to tell her that. I think she's smart enough that she should have figured it on her own. Hell, _I'm _stupid as shit but even _I _can understand through the denseness of my brother. Gee.

And although the present isn't probably the best that we all want it to be, we're working hard to change it so that we play our cards right and row our boats to shore.

But secretly?

When we were younger, everything seemed okay.

* * *

**this is probably one of my favorites of SS month, and i'm pretty proud of what i did with it although i usually dont like ninja AUs haha. it was fun to write in someone else's POV instead of sasukes, sakuras, or third person.**

**omg i was so tempted to write "when we were young, everything was okay. then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked." LOLOLOL**

**oh naruto, you cutie**

**REVIEW**


	18. Ghost

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o18: Sakura doesn't see dead people. She sees ghosts of the ones that she loves, and she's not ready to let go yet.

* * *

**.o18.  
**_Ghost_

"I see dead people…"

Naruto droned ominously as he lowered his jaw and squinted his eyes to make it seem like he was unsure of something. Sakura growled, punching him upside the head.

"You idiot! You do _not _see ghosts."

"I didn't say I saw ghosts! I said I saw dead people! Haven't you ever seen _The Sixth Sense_? My goodness, Sakura. And I thought _I _lived under a rock."

Sakura retorted, "Well, not _everyone _has seen that movie." She turned to Sai. "Have you seen it?"

"Of course. Who hasn't?"

She growled before calling Kakashi over.

"Sensei—have _you _seen _The Sixth Sense_?"

"I've watched it four times already," Kakashi said, putting his book away. "You're saying that _you _haven't? What, Sakura, do you live under a rock or something?"

Sakura bit her lip in frustration as the three boys teased her for her "hipster qualities" and how by seeing the movie was "mainstream," which she wasn't.

"Screw you," she said, pulling on her gloves. "Shit just got serious. Now, which one of you wants to get your ass kicked first?"

.

.

.

Sakura sighed in exhaustion as she trailed home, dragging her feet. The three guys were still on the training field, the energy knocked out of them. She thought they would be there until tomorrow morning.

Opening the door to her apartment, she stumbled in as Sasuke caught her before she fell.

"Watch your step," he said with care.

She groaned. "Ugh. Thanks. Anyway, why weren't you there?"

"I didn't feel like going today. I have some pain."

"That's never stopped you before," she said suspiciously. "Are you cheating on me?"

His face turned into one she'd never seen before—contorted with shock and surprise. "You think I'd _cheat _on you? Sakura." He shook his head. "You should know me better than that."

"You're right," she sighed. "I'm sorry." She opened her arms out for a hug, which he took. "Anyway, so what's the real reason?"

He nodded towards the TV. "_The Sixth Sense _was on. I didn't want to miss it."

"Oh, come on!" Sakura said in exasperation, stamping her foot. "Literally, has everybody but _me _seen that movie?"

"You haven't seen it?"

She groaned. "I'm going to bed."

"Sakura, don't be like this," Sasuke said, walking after her.

"Good night, Sasuke-kun." She slammed the door.

.

.

.

She tossed and turned in her sleep, taking up most of the bed. Sasuke was still watching TV, and she was always on the verge of waking up.

"Nngh," she moaned in annoyance. The blankets were too hot covering her, but they were too cold without. She sighed.

Then, the TV noises stopped. She could finally fall asleep peacefully.

And she dreamt of ghosts—lots of them. The people she loved. All ghosts. All see through.

All out of her grasp.

There was Kakashi, approaching her. He was a sort of pale white transparent color. He waved at her, smiling underneath his mask.

"Yo! Sakura! How's it going?"

Sai floated along next to him. "Hey, ugly," he said. Their voices echoed, since they weren't there. They weren't _real_.

"Sakura-chan!" This time, Naruto floated up. "Haven't seen you in a while. How's life?"

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, before Sasuke floated up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, but she couldn't feel him behind her. It was almost like nothing was there. She tried to touch his arms, but her hands only went through his body.

"Sasuke-kun—" she said.

He was snuggling his nose in her shoulder. "Hey."

She broke free from his unreal grasp and looked around her. "You're all ghosts. All of you." She reached out to touch Naruto's shoulder only to feel nothing.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "But it's okay. I don't mind. It's just _you _we're worried about. I don't know, being a ghost seems so much more carefree. Like we have nothing to worry about."

"But…"

"We miss you, Sakura-chan. But we're happy here, too! Hopefully, you can join us sometime soon." He gave her a big grin.

She looked at all of them, feeling tears prick in her eyes. "You all mean so much to me."

"You, too," Kakashi said, winking at her. Sai nodded, and Naruto chuckled. She then turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun…" she turned back to her boyfriend, to see him in a sad smirk.

"Hn." _I do, too._

She reached out to cup his cheeks where they _would _have been, had he been a real man. "I love you," she said.

He put his hands on her waist, trying to pull her closer. She moved towards his ghost.

Then, she leaned in, knowing her lips would touch only air, but…

.

.

.

"Sakura—wake up. Wake up!"

"Hnn…I…" she propped herself up as she saw Sasuke, his cheek red.

"Sasuke-kun! What happened?"

"You were having a nightmare and kicked me in the jaw," he muttered. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" he put a finger to her cheek and she noticed that she was crying.

"It's fine."

"It's not fine. You're not okay. Tell me, what's wrong?"

He sat down on the bed next to her.

"I had a bad dream."

"What was it about?"

She sighed. "I dreamed that you, and everyone else…_left me._" She said the last part in such a quiet whisper she was unsure if he had heard her or not.

"That's ridiculous. Why would we leave you?"

"Well, not voluntarily. You were all…ghosts."

"That's even more absurd."

Sakura frowned. "You're awful." She pulled the covers back over her, and he patted her shoulder.

"Fine, I'm sorry. Come here."

He held her tight and whispered in her hair, "We're not going to leave you."

She hugged him tight. "You promise?"

"Hn." _Yeah_.

"Okay."

Then, he pushed her back down onto the bed and kissed her again before trailing his fingers down to the hem of her shirt.

She responded by kicking off her sweatpants and kissing him back.

.

.

.

True to her thoughts, the rest of the team was still lying on the training grounds, unable to get up.

"Ugh, Sakura-chan," Naruto groaned. "You pack a punch."

"I can't even breathe," Sai said. "I'm so hungry."

"I almost shit myself," Kakashi mentioned. "You've gotten so strong."

Sasuke smirked as Sakura sighed, kneeling over each of her teammates and healing them. Soon, they were back on their feet, and stretching out their limbs.

"Well, so, that's that," Kakashi said.

"So, Sakura," Naruto said, not using his brain. "Do you see dead people?"

Sakura felt a vein in her forehead pop, but instead, she said, "I used to." She turned to Sasuke. "But not anymore."

"Oh." This response shocked Naruto. "Okay."

Unbeknownst to all of them, she had watched the so called "under a rock" movie that her teammates teased her about. And she loved it. Every second of it.

"You're about to see dead people pretty soon, though," she said, walking towards him while cracking her knuckles.

He gulped.

* * *

**i feel like this should have been more somber LOL**

**REVIEW**


	19. Messenger

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o19: People say that Sasuke likes Sakura. She refuses to believe any of these things the messengers tell her.

* * *

**.o19.  
**_Messenger_

"OW! Ow, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, trying to block his head from her punches. "Don't kill the messenger!"

"I don't care!" she shouted, hitting him harder with each punch. "How _dare _you tell me something like that and expect me to act normally!"

"But it's true!" Naruto said, finally crawling away from Sakura as she regained her breath while panting heavily. "He told me. He _does _like you!"

Sakura growled. "Look, I don't know what kind of _sick _game you guys are playing with me, but I just want to tell you that _it's not funny_. So cut the bullshit before I kill you."

Normally, she would have been delighted to hear that Sasuke, in return, liked her too. But for some reason, she felt that it would never happen, and that Naruto was just trying to tease her about it so that she would believe his lies.

And the fact that Sasuke was probably in this plan, too, hurt a lot. It struck a hole in her heart.

"I'm going to class," Sakura muttered as she slung her backpack over her shoulder, leaving Naruto bruised on the ground.

.

.

.

"Here, Sakura-chan," Hinata whispered, hoping the teacher didn't catch her. "It's a note. I didn't read it, I promise," she blushed.

Sakura nodded, making sure the teacher wasn't looking before reading, _From Shikamaru: I heard that Sasuke likes you._

Looking at the front corner of the room to see Shikamaru, now sleeping on his desk, she growled and crumpled up the paper in her fist before tearing it up loudly.

The teacher stopped writing on the board to turn around. "Everything okay, guys?"

"Just dapper," Sakura said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

She tried to tap Hinata's shoulder to wonder why Shikamaru would write this and why she would be his messenger, but she sat straight forward, not bothering to look back at all.

.

.

.

_The square root of x is this and this…_

Sakura furiously wrote the notes down as the teacher copied them on the board. Her hand moved frantically across the paper, smearing the newly fresh ink that she had just put down.

"Shit," she muttered.

"Psst, Sakura!" She saw a folded piece of paper land on her desk. "I don't know who it's from, but it seems important!" one of her classmates said.

The big exclamation mark on the front confirmed its importance. She opened it up slowly, her eyes reading the characters.

_From Sai: Is it true that Sasuke-san likes you?_

She saw Sai eagerly awaiting her answer, tapping his pencil continuously on the desk. Scribbling back furiously, she tossed the paper with a big _NO_.

He shrugged and pocketed the paper, shaking his head.

Sakura was fuming.

.

.

.

The whole day, all she heard was, "Does Uchiha-san really like you? Sasuke-kun has a crush on you! Is it true that Uchiha Sasuke likes you?"

She ignored all of these comments like a movie star avoiding the paparazzi. Obviously, someone had spread really hurtful information and it was in her duty to stop it before it spread even further. And worse.

Sakura approached Sasuke by his locker, shooing away the many people who were eager to hear the truth.

"_Ahem_," she coughed in her fist, trying to get his attention.

He turned around, his expression softening from its usual hard look. "Sakura," he said in acknowledgement.

"I need to talk to you," she said.

"Then talk," he said.

She narrowed her eyes. "I mean, _privately_."

He chuckled. "Just say what you have to say. It's fine."

Sakura was a little uncomfortable, knowing that people were probably listening in on her already.

"I'd appreciate it if you, uh," she began nervously. "Please don't tell everyone that you like me. I mean, seriously, I know that you don't and you're just embarrassing yourself _and _me, and it's really awful because I've given people so much crap today, and…"

He put a finger to her lip. "Slow down. What are you saying?"

"People are saying that you like me."

"…So what if I do?" he said after a few moments of silence. "Are you saying that I can't?"

"Well, no. I'm just saying that you _don't_," she said, using her hands to motion.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Sakura, Sakura, Sakura. You think you know me better than _I _know _myself_?"

"But you don't like me!"

"Who said?" he moved closer to her. "It's true. I've told people that I like you. What's the danger in that? Everyone knows the truth now. So what's there to hide?"

She felt her eyes prick with tears and turned away quickly. "That stings," she said, trying to wipe away her tears. "I mean, for the longest time _I've _liked _you_, but something like this is really hurtful. If you don't like me, just stop it, alright?"

He put his hand on her shoulder, turning her around. "That's the problem. See, I _do _like you. A lot." He wiped away one of her tears. "And I'm not pretending."

"But then…" she moved away from him. "Why so many messengers? Why didn't you just tell me yourself?"

He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "It's not that easy for a guy to approach a girl. I know it's worse to hear it from the grapevine, but seeing as we're friends and all…" He stopped. "Yeah."

"So…you _do _like me?" she asked as a confirmation.

"Yes."

"Great." She couldn't hide her teary smile. "I'm glad."

He smirked, knowing that she liked him, too, judging by the way she _"accidentally" _told him. He handed her a handkerchief and she wiped her eyes.

"Just don't kill any more messengers," Sasuke nodded as he motioned outside the building to where Naruto was still on the ground, aching in pain.

"I promise," she said. "At least, for now."

* * *

**wow idk if im just getting worse at writing or if these prompts suck**

**like seriously compare teh stats of Love Month and 7:31 and they showt hat:**

**7:31: views 15k, reviews 110  
love month: views 105k, reviews 244**

**COME ON GUYS I LOVE YOU DONT GIVE UP ON ME D=**


	20. Anticipation

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o20: It's been two years since Sasuke left for school. Now that he's back, Sakura can't wait to welcome him home.

* * *

**.o20.  
**_Anticipation_

Sakura waited at the airport eagerly, bouncing up and down on her heels. She tried to stifle her surprise, but occasionally she let an unexpected giggle or a big smile break out.

Several people turned to look at her with a confused look, wondering what this girl was drugged on or who she was excited to see.

She prepared everything for his arrival—a nice dinner at home, a romantic talk about how his study abroad was, and then to the bedroom.

Looking out the window, she saw that a plane was landing, and couldn't hold her excitement. She began to squeal and press her nose up against the window, trying to spot Sasuke through the many windows of the plane.

The wait seemed like forever, although it was only a few minutes. Pretty soon, people came out, some of them greeted by family members while others just went on their way.

Soon, she saw the familiar spike of black hair appear. Cutting past the line, she jumped into Sasuke's arms as he caught her, stumbling from the sudden hug.

"Whoa, Sakura," he said, catching her. "Be careful. You could have hurt us both."

She kissed him all over his face. "I don't care," she said. "I missed you so much." She wrapped her arms around him tighter and pulled him closer to her.

He tightened his own grip on her. "I missed you, too," he said before kissing her back.

.

.

.

"Wow," he said, entering her apartment after not having been there for two years. "You've still managed to keep it clean," he added, smirking.

"Hey!" she said, slapping him playfully. "I try!"

"I know."

She took out her premade food from the refrigerator and warmed it up. "I made your favorite," she said. "Sorry if it's not that great. I've been a little rusty," she said sheepishly.

He kissed her forehead. "It's going to taste wonderful. Thank you," he said softly. He helped her move the dishes to the table as they sat on opposite sides. "Itadakimasu," they prayed in unison.

He took a bite and smiled at her. "It still tastes as good as ever."

She blushed, looking down at her plate. "You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not." Sasuke reached over to take her hand in his. "It's good. Truly."

Sakura grinned. "Thank you." They continued to eat, making small talk about his study abroad in China, and Sasuke went on eagerly to tell her how beautiful the scenery was and how great the food tasted.

"Did you meet any pretty girls there?" Sakura asked, a little jealous.

"Yes," he admitted. "But none of them as beautiful as you."

"Stop it, Sasuke-kun!" she said, embarrassed by his cheesiness. "You know that's a lie!"

"I'm not lying!" he laughed as he crawled across the table to bring Sakura into his arms. She felt safe in his chest and snuggled into him.

"You're the only one who would catch my eye anyway," he murmured into her hair. "I love you."

She looked up at him with excited eyes. "I love you, too."

Sakura saw his eyes flicker to her bedroom, and then back at her. She blushed a deep red, and he said, "Not if you don't want to."

"I-I do," she said. "I want it."

He lifted her off the ground, causing her to yelp in surprise. "Hold on," he said. He made his way through the short hallway and had Sakura turn the doorknob. Smelling the familiar scent of his girlfriend in the room, he took a deep inhalation and then dropped Sakura onto her bed.

"Ouch! Sasuke-kun!" she said.

He didn't say anything. She saw that his eyes were filled with desire and passion, and he loomed over her, pinning her to the bed.

"Every night I had your picture next to my bed and I would look at it and wonder what you were doing," he whispered, kissing her jaw. "I wondered if you missed me as much as I missed you, and if you still wanted me the way I want you."

"Of course," she said, stroking his cheek. "That's not even a question."

He smirked before pressing his lips to the top of her breasts. She moaned as she tugged his shirt off, feeling his smooth skin underneath her fingers and his toned stomach.

"You still…have those abs even from eating all that good Chinese food," she whispered.

"Yeah." He kissed her again. "For you."

He tugged off her shorts and underwear and pressed his fingers to her core, making her jolt. She was wet, and waiting for him to eagerly penetrate her.

"I'm sorry," he said, taking off his own pants and thrusting into her roughly. "Tonight…" he groaned. "I can't hold back. I've waited too long."

"I-It's okay," she stuttered as she tried to become accustomed to him again. She put her hands on his shoulders as he moved in her. "I've been anticipating this for a long time."

He took her thighs and spread them farther apart. With each thrust, she cried out, and he kissed her softly to try and ease the pain.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"No," she said. "Not anymore."

He moved in her faster and faster until she screamed. He felt her spill all over him, and he took himself out, stickiness enveloping both of them.

Sasuke saw that she was panting heavily, her breasts heaving up and down. He rested his head on her chest and she stroked his sweaty hair.

"Sasuke-kun," she said softly, lifting his head so that she could smile at him. "Welcome home."

* * *

**probably the most lemony ive done for 7:31 LOL**


	21. Duped

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o21: A stranger at a bar. No strings attached. At least, that was the plan.

* * *

**.o21.  
**_Duped_

He was simply a charming stranger she met at a bar. And she went home with him. The deal was: _no strings attached_.

They were still kissing as he unlocked the door to his apartment, refusing to break free from her. He whispered words like, "You're beautiful," and "So lovely," and all the things that she wanted to hear, even if they weren't true.

The man she met—Itachi, he said, the name of someone she didn't want to remember—was handsome beyond words. The fact that he decided to pick _her _up, out of every other girl at the bar, was mindblowing. It was fantastic.

And for some reason, she felt as if she'd seen him somewhere before.

Sakura didn't know how to describe her sudden lust for him rather than "he had me at hello."

They stumbled through the floors and made their way to his bed. He lied her down softly as she breathed heavily, wondering how the sex would feel with this new guy.

He straddled her, his eyes dark. "Are you ready for this?"

"Of course," she said, pulling him down. I've done this before."

Sakura saw his eyes widen slightly as she implied she wasn't a virgin, but she didn't care. And for a while, neither did he. He kissed her again, roughly this time, and pulled down her shorts as he reached for a condom.

She broke apart from the kiss and wiped his hair away. "You do this a lot, don't you?" she joked as she motioned to the drawer where he took the condom from.

He didn't respond. His face was stoic, and he seemed almost a little hurt or disappointed that she would ask that. "No," he said. "Only for the girls I like the most."

"How many are there?" she asked. She didn't get a response as he kissed her to keep her quiet, but it was a soft sort of kiss—the kind that made her want to fall into his arms forever.

Finally, she was fully bare under him, and he kept whispering sweet things into her ear, making her feel more beautiful than she thought she was. Itachi entered her slowly, although she convinced him that she didn't feel pain and that it was fine to go harder.

Itachi moved on top of her like someone making love, and she didn't know how to respond to this kind of experience. She liked it, though—even if it wasn't the kind of rough, hard sex she usually got from strange men at the bars, this one made her feel warm and cozy and almost…_loved_.

"Does it hurt?" he asked softly as he put his palms over her breasts.

"Not at all," she said. "It feels great."

"Good." He kissed her again, and she bucked her hips against his, creating more friction and movement between them.

Itachi groaned as Sakura pulled his hair. "Do you like it?" she asked.

"Yes," he whispered. "I love it."

He moved faster against her, with the same gentleness that he started with originally. She felt herself reaching her climax, and cried out.

"I'm going to—" she began, losing her words as she couldn't think straight. This beautiful stranger was still moving in her, faster and faster.

"You're going to what, Sakura?" he said, almost tauntingly.

"I'm going to cum," she cried, spilling herself all over him. He, too, came in the rubber and exited her slowly, feeling the cold air around him. He collapsed on top of her, and she held him to her chest, kissing his forehead.

"That was good," she said. "Very good."

Itachi didn't say anything. He sighed, feeling Sakura's breasts against his cheek, and fell asleep on her, enjoying the warm stickiness of her body.

.

.

.

He woke up much later than usual and felt the bed next to him empty. On the dresser was a note.

_Itachi—_

_Thanks for a wonderful night. Maybe someday we'll see each other again soon._

_—Sakura_

He crumpled the paper in his hands and cursed, pulling on some clothes. She couldn't have gone that far, seeing how it was only ten o'clock.

"Sakura!" he called out as he ran out his apartment complex. "Sakura!"

He kept running through pedestrians, calling out her name. He needed to explain something to her.

.

.

.

Sakura felt sore all over her body, even though Itachi had been incredibly gentle with her. "No guy has ever treated me like that in bed," she said to herself as she walked back towards her home.

In his arms, she felt safe and secure and almost _guilty _that it had just been a one night stand. She wanted more with him. And more. Was it greedy of her to want to keep him for herself?

Suddenly, she felt a hand clasp on her shoulder. Turning around, she screamed, and slapped the person across the face. He fell to the sidewalk and clutched his cheek.

"Itachi!" she said, helping him up. "I'm so sorry!"

He dusted himself off, and she saw the red bruise forming on his cheek. She, too, turned red. From embarrassment.

"I need to tell you something," he said breathlessly.

"What is it?" she asked. "First, let me get you some ice…"

"No." He took a hold of her wrist. "I have to tell you this." He paused, taking a deep breath, and then said, "My name isn't Itachi."

Her eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you've been duped. I tricked you. I gave you a false identity because I needed to understand you better." he sighed. "I'm sorry."

Sakura was speechless. "Why?"

He took out a picture on his phone. "Do you recognize this guy?"

Sakura gasped. "It's…"

"Uchiha Itachi. Your old boyfriend."

"Then…" she saw the resemblance between the two. "You're…"

"Sasuke. His brother."

She felt tears prick at her eyes. "I can't believe…" she turned away from him, refusing to let him see her tears after having one night together. "You tricked me, and I trusted you."

"Sakura," he said. "Please." His tone was soft.

"No," she said. "I can't…I can't do this."

Sasuke pulled her into his arms. "What happened last night was all real. My feelings for you. The fact that I wanted to wash away all the memories of my brother. I wanted it to be me, not Itachi, holding you. And now I have you in my arms. I don't want to let you go."

"You _lied _to me," she cried.

"I know." He turned her around and stroked her cheeks. "And I'm sorry. But I'm asking you to give me another chance. As Sasuke. Not Itachi."

"I—" she began.

"We can start slow," he said. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Because you and I both know that we want more than just one night together."

It was true. She did. She felt good with him. And she could soon get past the fact that he lied to her. Not very soon. But someday.

"Okay," she said softly. "Sasuke-kun."

* * *

**inspired bythe fourth story of the manga Hard na Choukyoshi**

**read it it's great hehe**

**hope you guys liked it**


	22. Bawdy

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o22: Sakura's growing tired of all these raunchy jokes the guys keep telling her.

* * *

**.o22.  
**_Bawdy_

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted as she punched him over the head, while the rest of the guys were still laughing over the raunchy joke he just told.

"Sakura, calm your tits," Kiba said, still laughing. "It's just a joke!"

"To you guys, maybe. From a feminist's point of view…" she grabbed Naruto by the collar, and his bruised face told her with a grin, _NO REGRETS_.

"Come on, Sakura! How many men does it take to open a beer?" Shikamaru added. "Live a little."

Sakura dropped Naruto. "You guys are so immature." She took her things and left the room, leaving the guys silent for half a second, before the turned to each other and burst out in fits of laughter again.

.

.

.

"Hey, Sakura, you know how a stork brings babies? And that storks are birds?" Sai asked on the way to class.

"Yeah…" she began. She didn't like where this was going, but seeing as it was Sai, he had a lot of weird things to say.

"So what kind of a bird _doesn't _bring babies?" he said.

Sakura thought for a moment. "I don't know. What?"

Sai's face turned into a sheepish grin. "A swallow."

The next thing Sai knew was that he was on the floor, seeing stars flying around him as blood poured out of his nose into a puddle on the floor.

.

.

.

"Don't even think about it, Sasuke," Sakura said as Sasuke sat down next to her in class. "I'm tired of all of this shit."

"Hn." He gave her a look that calmed her down. "I'm not going to tell you any of those jokes because I don't think they're funny."

Sakura looked surprised. "Really? And you deal with this kind of crude, bawdy humor every day? How do you manage to do it?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I'm used to it. I know they don't mean it. They're just jokes."

"Whatever," Sakura sighed. "Anyway, it's getting pretty annoying. I can take any joke if it's done well, but these are just over the top."

"Hn."

"You're a great listener," she said with sarcasm.

"Hn."

.

.

.

Sasuke saw some of the guys try to approach Sakura, with ink on their hands which he saw were more crude jokes.

"Guys, quit it," Sasuke growled. "I'm tired of this. _She's _tired of this. Hell, you all must be tired searching up lame jokes that only get her mad."

The rest of the boys looked at each other and laughed.

"Are you kidding? We'd do anything to see her get pissed!" Kankuro added, trying to rush past the group to find Sakura.

Sasuke stopped Kankuro by holding his wrist tightly.

"Ow, dude! Let go!"

"It's not funny anymore. She's really angry with everyone and all she wants is for this to stop. Now, are you guys mature enough to do it or not?"

Everyone looked at each other again before Naruto said teasingly, "I think _somebody's _got a crush on Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke, surprised that they would think that, said, "Well, then, what about the rest of you? Guys sometimes bully the girls that they like so that they don't know you have crushes on them. Naruto," he said, turning the tables on his friend. "Didn't you tell me a long time ago you thought Sakura was the prettiest girl you've ever seen, and that she still is?"

Naruto turned red. "Damnit, teme, I told you that in confidence!"

"And Sai, don't you call her Ugly just because you don't want to reveal the fact you think that she's beautiful?"

Sai's normally gray skin was beginning to turn red.

"And Kiba, isn't she the only person outside of your family that's allowed to pet Akamaru?"

Kiba growled defensively.

"You see?" Sasuke said, pointing out all their weaknesses. "Now, really, guys. Everyone's tired of it. So just stop it and we can all go back to how we were. All friends who apparently like the same girl."

"What about _you_?" Naruto said. "Do you like Sakura-chan, too?"

Sasuke felt his neck turn hot. "She's just a friend."

"Come on, Uchiha," Sai added. "You pointed out all of our weaknesses. Now, we're finding yours."

"I don't like her like that." His neck was getting warmer and warmer.

"Really? So you see her as another one of the guys?" Kiba said, butting in.

"Yeah." The warmth was up to his chin.

"You don't like her…_sparkling _eyes or her _pink _lips?" Neji added teasingly.

"Hn." His cheeks were warm.

"Or her huge ti—"

"Okay, Naruto, I get it!" Sasuke said. "I like her too, alright? Fine. Now, can we all just stop these bawdy jokes and just go back to the way we were so that she doesn't know anything?"

"Uh…" The color in their faces' paled, and Sasuke asked, "What is it?"

He felt a pair of eyes behind him and turned slowly only to see Sakura, shocked.

"How much did you hear?" he asked.

"Enough," she said, speechless.

Sasuke took Sakura by the hand and dragged her away from the group. "I need to talk to you in private," he said. "Come with me."

.

.

.

"So who's it going to be, Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he loomed over Sakura, her back pressed to the lockers. "Being with all guys almost every second of your life…you have to have had a crush on _one _of us."

"I don't," she said, turning away from him.

"That's a lie," he said. "Your face is red. You're blushing. I won't tell anybody, alright? We can go back to being just friends and pretend like nothing happened. But who is it?"

She opened her mouth to say something.

"S-S…"

"Sai? Do you like Sai?"

She shook her head.

"Sasuke-kun…" she said.

"What?" he asked.

"I like…I like Sasuke-kun." She blushed heavily as she said this, and he froze.

"Sakura."

"Okay," she said. "Now let's just forget this happened, and…mmph!"

She felt his lips on hers, kissing her softly. She'd never kissed a guy before, and she felt like she was on Cloud 9 right now.

"But I don't want to forget," he whispered, pulling apart.

"Me neither."

"This'll just be our little secret," he said. "Alright?"

"Yeah."

"Kiss on it," he said, leaning in.

.

**the next day**

.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted during lunch. "What does a woman have to do to keep a man interested?"

"Naruto…" she began, a vein about to pop in her head. "What?"

"Continue to be beautiful, that's what!" he said.

She looked up, surprised. "Wow, Naruto. Good for you."

"I know, right? I'm trying to get into clean jokes."

"That's great."

The whole group talked, sharing what lame but clean jokes they had, some of them ridiculous, some of them hilarious because they were so bad.

Sasuke put his hand under the table and squeezed Sakura's leg, giving her a look that said, _Here we go again_.

She put a hand on his knee while staring straight at Naruto. "Hey, Naruto. Why are dumb blonde jokes one liners?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"So that men can understand them."

Naruto whined. "Sakura-chan!"

* * *

**SS MONTH, Y U USE WORDS THAT I HAD NO IDEA EXISTED?**

**like wtf srsly**

**anyway i actually ahd to look up feminist jokes and blonde jokes and stuff**

**like srsly**

**grrr**

**REVIEW**


	23. Journey

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o23: It all started with karaoke night which let Sakura know that she was more than just family.

* * *

**.o23.  
**_Journey_

"JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL—LIVING IN A LONELY WORLD!" Naruto shouted, taking the microphone and singing badly into the karaoke machine.

"Stop it, Naruto!" Sakura shouted, covering her ears. "You're going to make us all deaf!"

"Then _you _try singing Journey, Sakura-chan. Show us that _you _can do better."

Sakura looked at Sasuke and Sai, who shrugged. "You brought this on yourself," they said.

"Fine." She stepped up and took the microphone from him. "So how does this work. Do I just follow the words and stuff?"

"Yeah. Just sing when the words are singing."

The music started to play, and Sakura immediately felt nervous knowing that her teammates—and the rest of Ichiraku—were watching.

"Just a small town girl…" she sang, her voice soft and almost inaudible.

"Speak up!" one of the guys in the back of the restaurant said. "Come on, sweetie, we need to hear you!"

She rolled her eyes, raising her voice and not caring at all about how she sounded (although truthfully, she _did _want to sound better than Naruto).

Suddenly, everyone was quiet. All eyes were on her. She didn't know if it was because she was bad or if she was just surprising everyone. Sakura assumed it was the first.

"_Smell of wine and cheap perfume…_"

She groaned, putting the microphone down. "I'm done," she said. "Thanks."

"No!" the back of the restaurant said. "Honey, you were amazing! Keep singing!"

"No." She sat back down, waiting for someone else to come up and sing. Her teammates were looking at her with shock.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto began. "You—I—I don't—"

"Speak, Naruto."

"You were _phenomenal_," Kakashi said. "Your voice. It's so different from your speaking voice. It was almost _angelic_. I felt like I was flying."

"Ugly, you have a beautiful voice that doesn't match your face at all."

"Stop sugarcoating it," Sakura said. "I know you guys are just trying to make me feel better."

"…You were great," Sasuke said quietly. She turned to look at him, knowing that he rarely—if ever—gave compliments to anyone.

"See? Even teme thinks so!" Naruto said. "Now get back up there!"

"No thanks," she said. "I'm done for tonight." She took her belongings and got up. "See you tomorrow, guys. I have to go sleep. I'm exhausted."

She left the restaurant, everyone watching her leave.

.

.

.

"Let me walk you home," Sasuke said, catching up with her.

She turned around. "Sasuke-kun! Why aren't you staying with them?"

"You think I _want _to?" he said.

She laughed. "Funny." He walked alongside her, and they made small talk about the weather (even though it was nighttime) and other miscellaneous things.

"We all meant what we said back there. You truly are a great singer," he added out of the blue. Her eyes widened and she stopped walking.

"You really think so?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"I mean, coming from you…" she laughed nervously. "It's like getting Simon Cowell to cry."

"Hn."

"But thank you. That really means a lot."

"Did you ever want to become a singer?" he asked. "I mean, you probably knew you were good at singing."

Sakura paused. "I mean, I liked to sing. But I wasn't serious about it. It's been a long time since I've actually sung, though, so that was nice."

He stopped. "Your journey from an Academy ninja to a chuunin. That's great work."

"Thank you."

"You've come a long way."

"It means a lot from you. I know that I wasn't exactly the most fun person to be with—you told me yourself," she said, referring indirectly to the time where he called her annoying. "And that I was pretty useless back then. But I'm getting better."

"Hn."

"Hey. While we're being honest here," she said. "Did you ever, uh, think of me other than a teammate? I mean, not romantically, of course, but like, as a family member?"

"…Yes. I thought of all of you as my family," he said.

"Oh."

"But why can't I think of you romantically?" he asked. "When you were younger, wasn't that all that you wanted me to think of you?"

"Well, I mean," she stuttered. "I just thought…"

"You thought what?"

"I don't know."

"I think that you've taken the journey of growing from—let me be blunt—an annoying fangirl to this charming, beautiful singer."

Sakura paused. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Sakura blossoms are always beautiful."

Her heart raced as they finally reached her apartment door. "Well, thank you for everything, Sasuke-kun. I'll see you tomorrow."

Feeling bold, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. His eyes widened at her behavior, and she blushed.

"Good night, Sasuke-kun," she said.

"Good night, Sakura."

She closed the door and sighed, sliding down onto the floor.

_Sakura blossoms are always beautiful._

She smiled, knowing what he meant. And then she giggled like the girl she used to be five years ago. Sakura understood his message.

Then, she went to her bedroom, and began to sing.

* * *

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY SASUKE**

**but more importantly DANIEL RADCLIFFE HES MINE OSIEUTPOWEUPOEWTU LOVE**

**sakura as a singer...i never saw it**

**i was just thinking dont stop believing hahaha**


	24. Experience

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o24: With Sasuke, Sakura experienced everything. How to love, how to be loved, and a first time.

* * *

**.o24.  
**_Experience_

With Sasuke, Sakura had a boatload of experiences.

He taught her how to be herself. He taught her how to live. He taught her how to _love_.

Sasuke had taught her so many things that she couldn't even count. He let her express her emotions freely without being afraid of what others would say. He got angry at her when she didn't tell him what was bothering her. He made her laugh when he attempted to try and be funny through his seriousness.

All those things made her love Sasuke even more, and with him, she had the best experiences she could ever imagine.

Including her first.

.

.

.

They had been dating for over eight months now. Hand in hand, their fingers intertwined, the couple walked down the busy streets of Konoha and made small talk while Sakura let a small giggle escape occasionally.

Then, out of the blue, he stopped walking and pulled her abruptly into his arms, looking into her eyes and breathed heavily.

"You're beautiful," he said before he kissed her right there, in the middle of the street. Sakura felt all eyes watching her, but she didn't care. She kissed him back roughly, clinging onto his hair as if he would somehow disappear from her grasp.

His lips moved down to her neck, sucking the small bit of skin where he felt her heart beat. She couldn't hold back her moan as she threw back her head and gave him more access to her neck.

Sasuke bit part of her skin and she squeaked, knowing there would be a hickey appearing sometime later that night.

"Hey! Hey! Break it off!" one of the shop owners said, pushing the two lovebirds away from each other. "This is a public place! Get a room!"

Sakura blushed heavily, embarrassed by the whole thing. Sasuke, on the other hand, shrugged. He took Sakura's hand again and they continued to walk as if nothing had gone wrong.

.

.

.

"Do you want to get an ice cream?" he asked, pulling out his wallet.

"You don't like ice cream," she said, raising her eyebrows. He smirked, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

"That's why I asked if _you _wanted to get one."

Sakura thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. I do." She reached for some spare change in her pocket before she felt Sasuke's hand grip her wrist.

"No." He waved his wallet in his hand. "I got it."

Sakura knew that arguing would be futile. "Thank you," she said, squeezing his hand.

He responded with a "Strawberry or vanilla?"

.

.

.

For some reason, their feet took them in front of a love hotel. Sakura felt clammy and nervous, knowing what might happen when a couple like them with such passion reached a place like _this_.

"Are you tired?" Sasuke asked. "We can either sleep here or take a taxi back to your apartment."

Sakura noticed how he emphasized the word _sleep_ more than usual.

"I—I don't know," she said awkwardly. Sasuke noticed the fear in her voice and put a hand on her back.

"Let's take a taxi, then." He raised his arm to wave one over, before Sakura stopped him and put his arm back down.

"No! Don't!" she said. "I…" she looked back up at the shining neon lights of the hotel. "I want to go here. With you."

She said the last part so softly he wasn't sure if he heard her right.

"You want to come here?"

"…Yes."

Sasuke kissed her softly before leading her into the lobby, which was pinky and frilly and set the tone for a romantic setting for girls like her.

"The best room you've got," she heard Sasuke say as she closed her eyes, trying to block out the response of the price.

He simply took out his wallet and handed the receptionist a wad of cash.

"Have a good evening, sir," he bowed before showing him the way to the elevator.

.

.

.

"Wow," Sakura said. "It's so…I don't even know." The room was different unlike the lobby's pink hearts and doilies. This one was classier and made it feel more erotic with satin red sheets, a fireplace, and bouquets of red roses strewn everywhere. She felt warm and tingly in here, not just by the fire.

Sasuke put his arms around her, his head resting on her shoulder. "Do you like it?" he asked.

"It's beautiful."

He turned her around so that she faced him. With one hand, he stroked her hair.

"_You're _beautiful."

Then, all of a sudden, she found herself lying back on the bed while Sasuke was on top of her. Her hair was in all different places and she started to breathe heavily, not knowing what was happening.

"Do you want to do this?" he asked, his hand on the hem of her shirt. "I don't want to go too far unless you're uncomfortable."

"I mean, you bought this room, and it's…"

"I don't give a fuck about the room," he growled. "It's _you _I care about."

Sakura knew that she would lose her virginity someday. But she understood that she wanted it to be with Sasuke. She knew Sasuke so well, and he made her feel loved and beautiful and everything she always wanted someone to treat her.

"I love you," she said, cupping his cheek. "And I want this."

"Sakura…"

She brought him down so that his lips were on hers, and soon, their clothes came off, being strewn all over the floor and the far sides of the room. Hands were on each other's skins, feeling them, licking them, and kissing them. Sasuke reached for a package that was so conveniently placed near the bed and put it on. He felt Sakura stiffen under him.

"It's not too late to stop," he said. "Because once we do this…" he sighed. "I don't know if I'll be able to force myself to stop."

"I'm sure," she said softly. "I love you."

There was no need for words for his response. It was all in his eyes. He kissed her back with such gentleness she didn't even feel pain as he entered her for the first time.

They moved together as one, acted like one, breathed as one.

And when he finally spilled himself into her, collapsing onto her chest, she kissed his forehead and knew that there was no one else she wanted to share her experiences with other than him.

"Thank you," she said, a while after.

"For what?" he asked breathlessly.

"Everything."

* * *

**sasuke is a softie OOC hahahaha**

**REVIEW PLZ THANKS**


	25. Ice

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o25: Sakura can't wake Sasuke up.

* * *

**.o25.  
**_Ice_

"Holy shit, Naruto, he's not waking up!" Sakura screamed as she panicked through the phone. "Sasuke-kun, he's…he's cold as ice. Naruto, I'm scared," she cried softly as she heard him say, "I'll be right there."

It was only less than a month that Naruto had brought Sasuke back, although Sasuke was unwilling.

Through those days, she tried to forgive Sasuke for everything (although it seemed impossible) and told him that she missed him and still loved him.

He responded with only "hns" and "annoying," which struck a hole in her heart.

But at night, one day, when he knocked on her apartment door, she opened it, wondering what he was doing at this hour.

She was greeted with a harsh kiss and his hands traveling all over her body, struggling to get her clothes off.

"Mm—Sasuke-kun! What are you doing—" she screamed, trying to push him off. She felt him soften against her.

"I'm not trying to rape you," he murmured. "In fact, quite the opposite."

"What opposite?" she asked, holding herself close to her.

"I want to make love to you."

He said these words with such sincerity that Sakura couldn't believe if it was truly Sasuke or not.

"Stop it," she said. "Get out. It's not funny."

He put a hand on her shoulder and she looked into those eyes that she knew so well.

"Sakura." He put his arms around her. "I want you to help me restore my clan."

She felt a little hurt if that was his only reason for wanting to "make love" to her. "Is that it?" she asked. "Just so you can continue on the line?"

Sasuke didn't say anything. He simply kissed her again, and she felt his heat on her stomach.

"I don't want to," she said. "I'm not going to be your whore."

"You're not a whore," he said. "You're Sakura."

"You're going to try and kill me again, aren't you?" she asked, suspiciously. "I can't trust you."

"You don't have to," he said. He put his hand on her cheek and kissed her forehead and her nose. "Just relax and let me do all the work."

He carried her to her bedroom and put her down, taking off his clothes and his pants. She stared at him as he was in front of her, naked.

"Do you need help?" he asked, motioning to her outfit. She growled, taking off her shirt and skirt herself. "I'm _fine_."

"Hn."

He was then on top of her again, his lips on her bare skin. The places where he touched felt hot, and even though she knew she shouldn't succumb to his needs (or hers!) she couldn't help but fall into his arms.

"You're soaked," he said with such precision that she blushed, feeling his fingers press against her core.

Sasuke positioned himself at her entrance and entered her slowly. Sakura closed her eyes, waiting for the rough thrust he would make, but it never came. Instead, she felt herself being accustomed to him and couldn't hold back her moan.

"You feel amazing."

He moved faster against her, his hands on her hips, rocking her. She put her hand against her mouth, trying to stifle the noises coming out.

Sasuke took her hand off. "I like hearing you cry out like that." He moved faster against her, increasing her moans, and finally, he began to pump into her so hard that she screamed—not in pain, but in pleasure.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"No," she said breathlessly. "Keep going."

He continued his pace, gritting his teeth. Sasuke knew that he was going to cum soon.

But when he saw Sakura's red face and her soft smile, he lost it.

Spilling himself in her, he pulled out, panting as though he had just been through a rigorous training exercise.

"Come here," she said, pulling him down. He lied down next to her and she took him in her arms.

"Can I forgive you?" she asked. "I don't know the answer to that. But I can try."

Sasuke felt the ends of Sakura's hair and whispered, "You know, I've only liked girls with short hair. Especially if it's pink."

Sakura didn't say anything. She closed her eyes and felt the warm stickiness between her thighs, ignoring his comment about her hair.

He, too, fell asleep next to her.

.

.

.

"He's not waking up!" Sakura cried. "Naruto!"

Naruto rushed over to her apartment, looking at the color of Sasuke's face. He was paler than usual, almost ghost pale, and he wasn't breathing. There were no signs of any struggle or anything, and he knew Sakura wasn't capable of killing him. He thought back to last time.

"He's ice cold," Naruto said, feeling his friend's palm. "Sakura-chan, what happened?"

"I…" she began, leaving out the details of sleeping with Sasuke. "And he was tired, so I let him spend the night here, and…" she began to cry. "Naruto…"

Naruto took her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan."

They didn't hold funerals for traitors, but Team 7 made sure that he was given a proper burial. Sakura looked down at his body, opened in the casket, and put a hand to her stomach, knowing that someday a baby would form.

"You let me in," she said, going over to his body and whispering in his ear. "You let your guard down and were vulnerable. I could kill you and leave no trace."

She stroked his hair, feeling his cold skin against her fingers.

"I still love you," she said. "But I can't forgive you. I had to stop you." She walked back to where the rest of the team was, and cried genuine tears.

Hail started to pour down from the sky.

* * *

**oh sakura you meanie LOL**

**review!**

**is anyone going to otakon? =O**


	26. Loss

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o26: Their first loss was with their first child. But they're both willing to try again.

* * *

**.o26.  
**_Loss_

"Uchiha-san?"

The doctor came out of the emergency room where his wife was, giving birth to their first child. He stood up from the waiting room and jumped to his feet, clasping his hands together.

"May I see them, doctor?" he asked.

The doctor took off his glasses and sighed, pocketing them in his coat.

"Uchiha-san, I don't know how else to say this…" he struggled to find appropriate words. "But we couldn't save the baby."

Sasuke didn't know what to think. Sakura was healthy as a horse, and the sonograms showed that the baby was equally healthy. She took good care of him. How could this have happened?

"I don't understand," Sasuke said. "Why?"

"The umbilical cord was wrapped around its body, blocking his air passage." The doctor put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

For the first time in twenty-seven years, Sasuke began to cry.

.

.

.

Sakura was still woozy from pain medication and morphine, but the sadness still overwhelmed her. The nurses tried to comfort her, but she told them she wanted to be left alone.

She didn't understand anything. The baby seemed to be fine. But why was he taken away from her? She and Sasuke were going to raise him and spoil him like a prince. They planned on naming him Itachi, after Sasuke's brother. And now, their fantasies of raising a little boy were all gone.

Sakura heard the door open and muttered, "Go away!" rather harshly. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around, saying, "Doctor, I don't need your sympathy."

Instead, she looked up into the sad eyes of her husband, reaching down to kiss her forehead and squeeze her hand.

"It's okay," he said, his voice cracking. "It's alright."

She lost it. Falling into his arms, she clung onto his shirt and cried, "It's not fair, Sasuke-kun. It's not fair."

"I know," he whispered, kissing her forehead. She felt a tear drip onto her nose. A tear that wasn't her own. "But it's not your fault. It's nobody's fault. It's the way God wanted it to be, and he has a plan for everybody."

"But why—"

"Shh." He kissed her lips. "Just relax. You're tired right now. You need to sleep."

He turned to leave before she grabbed onto his hand. "Please, stay with me," she begged. "I don't want you to leave my side."

Sasuke turned back to her and pulled up a chair. "I won't," he promised. He fingered the ring on her hand. "Not now. Not ever."

.

.

.

They had a funeral for Itachi. It was just them two, dressed in black and praying over their unborn son's grave. Sasuke struggled not to let his tears out while wiped his wife's.

"He's in a better place now, Sakura," he said softly, holding her tight.

"I know," she cried. "But I still just wanted some time with him."

They didn't say anything. For the next hour or so, they kept standing in front of Itachi's grave, reading the engraved words and tearing up again.

.

.

.

Sakura refused to continue what had been her normal life. Her friends all offered food, flowers, and sympathetic cards bought from the grocery store aisles. She didn't care for any of them. They only felt pity for her. They didn't know what she was feeling.

Sasuke continued to go to work, although she could see that he was unmistakably tired in a way he had never been before. His work performance decreased, and she knew that he was affected just as much as she was.

"Are you alright?" she would always ask.

"Hn," he responded. He only used _hn _when he didn't want to say anything or if he just didn't _care _anymore. Sakura was the only person he opened up to, but hearing this _hn _of his shocked her. He was closing her off from him.

"Sasuke-kun," she said, reaching out to touch him.

"Not now, Sakura. I'm tired." He sighed, pulling off his coat. "I'm going to bed."

She took his briefcase and watched him trail his feet to their bedroom. When she checked in on him ten minutes later, he was sound asleep, almost like the dead.

.

.

.

"I want to try again," Sasuke said, taking Sakura's hand and pushing her down onto the bed. "Please."

Sakura's eyes widened. "But…isn't it too early to—"

"We're not going to replace him," he said. "Itachi won't be replaced. Ever. But Sakura, I want a child so badly." His eyes were begging. "I want to father a child with _you_."

Sakura's eyes softened. "I want a child, too."

He squeezed her hand again. "Can we take another shot at it?"

"Yeah." She kissed him. "We can."

* * *

**wow im on a sad streak LOL**


	27. Commitment

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o27: As a playboy, Sasuke doesn't want any sort of commitment. He doesn't think anyone can change him. Until he meets Sakura.

* * *

**.o27.  
**_Commitment_

"You know I've been with a lot of girls before you."

"I know."

"And that I've gone all the way with them."

"Yeah."

"But you still want me to be with you?" he asked, skeptical. His new "toy" was in front of him, looking down at her feet. She knew all his dirty tricks and his playboy lifestyle—how one girl was treated as his soul mate for the day, and then the day after it would be a different girl.

"Yes."

Sasuke was surprised. One thing he liked about this girl was her honesty, even though she could be a fool sometimes. "We've never even kissed," he said, "let alone fuck."

He waited for the blush that would appear on her face, but it didn't come. She raised her head high and said with confidence, "Maybe someday we might. But not right now. First, I just want to be with you. That's all I'm asking for."

Sasuke liked her attitude. "Alright," he said, taking her hand. "Let's give it a shot."

.

.

.

Being with Sakura didn't stop him from observing other girls with her, though she didn't seem to mind. In fact, whenever he wanted to see how she would respond, he would focus his gaze on a group of girls giggling over at him, saying, "Oh, he's so cute!" and things like that. Sakura simply shrugged and said, "Well, you _are _attractive."

Sasuke twitched. Normally, girls would be jealous if he was looking at other women. For some reason, Sakura wasn't. Or maybe, she just didn't care. After all, they were only in this as an "experiment." For a short while.

Then, without notice, Sasuke took Sakura into his arms and kissed her wildly, his lips moving furiously on top of hers. His hands were on her waist, one going lower while the other one massaged her back. He waited for her arms to be wrapped around his neck, but they didn't come. Pulling apart, he noticed that she was stiff—slightly surprised, but more nonchalant.

"You didn't like it?" he asked, sighing. He ran a hand through his hair. "Usually girls fall into that kind of thing."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I've never kissed anyone besides you just now. So I can't say."

Sasuke frowned as Sakura walked past him, waiting for him to catch up.

.

.

.

"You know I have commitment issues," he said as he lied down on her sofa, drinking the tea she prepared for him. "So why did you ask me out if you act like this, anyway?"

Sakura said, "I don't know."

Sasuke sat up. "What do you _mean _you don't know? Either it's because of my looks or because you think you're one of those girls who can _change me_. Well, guess what, Sakura. You can't change me. No one can."

"I never said I would," she responded coolly.

"So then why? Tell me!" he said, his voice rising.

She looked him in the eye and said, "I like you. That's all there is to it."

"So why are you acting like this?"

She smiled. "Because I've never had a boyfriend before."

.

**a few days later**

.

They were on his bed, rolled around. Sasuke didn't break the kiss as he struggled to remove her shirt, and then her bra. He knew how those things worked. He had done them a million times before with a million girls other than Sakura.

Her top was off and her bra straps slid down her shoulders. Sasuke broke apart to see Sakura under him, panting.

She was unmistakably _beautiful_. He had never noticed it before, but she was stunning. What else had she been hiding from him?

Sakura covered her chest with her arms, but he pried them away. "No," he said softly, his voice gentle and unlike the one he used with her normally. "Please."

He kissed the top of her cleavage and she lied there, her arms now at her sides. "Tell me you love me," Sasuke said softly, his head between her breasts. He wanted to feel her heartbeat. "Say it."

He didn't hear any words come from her, so he looked up to see that her eyes were cold. Almost frozen.

"Sakura?"

"I can't," she said. "I can't tell you that."

"Sakura—"

She got up, redid her bra, and put on her shirt. "I…" she looked at the door and then back at Sasuke. "I don't think this is going to work out. Goodbye, Sasuke."

He tried to stop her, but she was already gone. He didn't know how she moved so fast, but he called out her name, trying to get a response.

"Sakura? SAKURA!"

There was only the sound of his echo.

.

.

.

He sat back down on the bed and buried his head in his hands. He didn't know it at first, but Sakura _had _changed him. He used to be the playboy Sasuke who went around doing every girl that he met, and now all he wanted was Sakura in his arms, never mind his bed. It didn't matter if she wanted to make love anymore. He just wanted to hold her tight and never let her go.

"She changed me," he muttered. He lied back on the bed where Sakura was just less than ten minutes ago, and took in her scent.

Why had he asked her to tell him she loved him? Was it because it was some sort of subliminal message that he wanted to hear? He'd heard it from plenty of other girls. So why was Sakura different?

And then he realized it.

"I love her."

.

.

.

He raced towards Sakura's apartment, only wearing a thin shirt and sweatpants, along with flimsy sandals.

"Sakura! Sakura, open up!" he shouted, banging on her door.

She opened it slowly, surprised that he had followed her here. "Sasuke? What's wrong? Did I forget something?"

Sasuke tried to catch his breath before he let himself in. He held her by the shoulders and hugged her tight, his chin resting on her forehead.

"Sasuke?" she asked, her voice muffled into his chest.

"Please," he said. "Let me hold you like this for a little longer."

"Sasuke…"

"I want to be with you," he said. "I want to make a commitment. I won't look at anybody else but you. I won't think of anybody else but you. I'm all yours. Please," he begged again, making sure that she could see his expression. "Be with me."

He waited for Sakura's response, closing his eyes tightly, thinking it would be a "no." Instead, she kissed his cheek and asked, "You promise?"

"On my life."

She took his hand. "Then let's give it a shot."

* * *

**based on RTN sasuke and stroke material manga LOLOLOL**

**sort of**

**REVIEW**

**im going to otakon tomorrow and ROAD TO NINJA COMES OUT TOMORROW OMG**


	28. Crime

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o28: She's in love with a criminal. Problem is, her dad's the police captain who's searching for him. But she loves him anyway.

* * *

**.o28.  
**_Crime_

"Is it a crime to love someone like you?" Sakura asked as she took Sasuke's face in her hands. He was breathing heavily, holding her close to him. She tucked a stray lock of hair over his ear.

"Yes," he said. "But who's going to stop us?" Then, he kissed her hard, his grip on her waist tighter than before.

Sakura kissed him back before realizing something. She pulled away, and he put a hand to her cheek, asking her what was wrong.

"You're a criminal," she said. "And my father is a police captain."

"So?" he asked. "I'm good at not getting caught."

She managed a small smile. "You are."

He kissed her again, his hands traveling up to her waist and touching her softly. His fingers left burning trails where he had touched her, and she moaned softly into his mouth.

"Sasuke-kun," she gasped airily. "I love you."

Sasuke put his lips to her neck and murmured the same words into her shoulder. "Stay with me," he whispered, pulling down her skirt. "Please."

"I will," she said, holding him tight as he entered her gently, clawing his back.

.

.

.

"We're still on the hunt for Uchiha Sasuke," Kizashi said as he talked into his police radio. "Sources say that he is extremely unstable, heavily armed, and will react with violence. Proceed with caution."

Sakura always made sure to hear the new reports on Sasuke, feeling guilty for betraying her father.

"So how's the search going?" she asked her dad.

"Not well, Sakura," he sighed. "He's almost invisible. Like a ninja. It's hard to catch him."

"What…what did he do wrong?" she asked softly, afraid to hear the answer.

"He killed his brother and many other innocent civilians. He needs to be stopped."

"Oh."

Kizashi ruffled Sakura's hair. "Don't worry about it, Sakura. Alright?"

"Okay."

Truthfully, she was beyond worried.

.

.

.

"I only have a couple minutes to spare," Sasuke said as she let him into her window. He leaned in for a kiss from her, but she turned her head so that his lips pressed against her cheek.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" he asked, taking her face in his hands. "Are you alright?"

Sakura gulped. She didn't know how to phrase her upcoming question.

"Did you…" she whispered. "Did you kill all those people?"

He became stiff. He said, "Do you believe what they're telling you?"

"I don't know! I just want to hear it from you—"

She saw his eyes turn red and his face mangle into an expression she'd never seen before. "Sakura, listen to me," he growled. "What I do doesn't concern you. In fact, I just want to leave you out of the whole thing. I'm not going to let you get hurt." He hugged her before she could escape from his arms. "Believe those lies if you want. Whatever makes you feel better. It's true, I did kill my brother. But you don't know the reason behind my motives. And if you did, you would understand."

"B-But what about everyone else? All those other people?"

He sighed. "I only did what was necessary."

"Sasuke-kun…"

"Shh." He pushed her down onto her bed and straddled her, taking her wrists in his hands. "Just relax." He kissed the tops of her breasts and pushed her legs apart with his knee. "I'll make you feel good tonight."

Sasuke felt her close her legs to him and turn away.

"Sakura—"

"Not tonight," she said. "I…I'm tired."

He knew something was wrong and that she was obviously upset by his words. Instead of trying to comfort her, he sighed, kissed her forehead, and said, "I'll be back tomorrow if you've cooled down."

Sakura curled up into a ball and thought of her dad and her lover, unable to choose between one.

She began to cry.

.

.

.

"We found him. Dispatch!" She heard Kizashi say. He pulled on his uniform and began to run out the door.

"Tou-san, what—"

"Don't worry about it, Sakura! We've got Sasuke!"

"No!" she shouted. "You can't—" she began to run after him.

"Sakura, get back inside the house," Kizashi said.

"You can't hurt him," she begged, holding onto her father's arm and crying. "Please!"

"Sakura!"

"I love him," she sobbed. "Please don't do this."

Kizashi looked at his radio and then back at his teary daughter. "We'll talk later," he said sternly, before wrenching his arm out of his grasp and running towards his squad.

.

.

.

They put him in cuffs as his chest was on the police car.

"Anything to say, dirtbag?" Kizashi asked, his foot on Sasuke's back.

"Is it a crime to love someone?" Sasuke asked softly.

Kizashi was startled. "No, it's not, I suppose."

"What if she's the complete opposite of you? Sweet, beautiful, good-natured, kind…"

"What whore would want to be with someone like _you_?"

"Don't call Sakura a whore," he growled, thrashing around. "She's not a whore!"

"Sakura…" Kizashi took his foot off. "My daughter?"

"I love her."

_"I love him!" Sakura shouted._

"You're the one she loves, aren't you?" Kizashi said. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hn."

He took Sasuke and led him inside the car. "Prepare for a bucket of questions, boy."

.

.

.

"I'm not sure I can understand his motives, but it doesn't really make it okay from what he's done," Kizashi said, finalizing all the details. "Sakura," he said seriously. "How did you and Sasuke become acquainted?"

Sakura didn't say anything.

"Sakura."

"I love him," she said softly. "I don't care if it's a crime to love a criminal. It's alright. If it makes me one, then so be it."

"Do you believe everything he says?" he asked.

She paused, then nodded. "Yeah. I do."

"I can't let you see him anymore," he said. "Even behind bars."

He expected her to cry, but instead, she said, "Okay."

Kizashi was shocked. "Alright then." He stood up and cleared the dinner table. "Good night, Sakura."

"Night."

.

.

.

"You said you were good at not getting caught," Sakura teased as she let him in through the window.

"Just one time," he chuckled, kissing her passionately. "Kami, I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

"Let me love you tonight," he begged. "One more night."

"It doesn't have to be just one," she said. "We have so much more to come."

* * *

**HAHAH i wanted to make it on sasuke coming back from the village and stuff but then i was like, "SPIDERMAN LOL"**

**REVIEW PLZ**

**otakon was not that graet btw**


	29. Options

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o29: Naruto's trying to set him up with a girlfriend. Too bad that he hates all of his options. Well, maybe one's alright.

* * *

**.o29.  
**_Options_

"What were my options again?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto sighed. "Red, tan, brown, purple, yellow, pink."

"I hate all of those colors."

"You don't have a choice. Pick one."

"Fine. Purple," Sasuke said, choosing the color closest to his favorite.

"You got it!" He went behind a room covered by a curtain and pulled out a shy, pretty girl twiddling her fingers.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What is this?"

"_Her _name is Hinata. Say hi to teme, Hinata-chan!"

The girl blushed, stuttered profusely, and then wailed out for no apparent reason.

"Yeah. No. Next." Sasuke said, waving Hinata away.

"You don't think she's pretty?" Naruto asked, incredulous.

"She's fairly attractive. Just not my type. Did you just pair us together because we have a similar color scheme?" he asked, frustrated.

"No! But anyway, I'll have her!" Naruto said gleefully. "Okay. Red, tan, brown, yellow, or pink?"

Sasuke sighed. "Brown."

"Okay. Come out here, TenTen!"

A girl with her hair in two Chinese buns appeared, swinging a knife on her finger. She pointed it at him menacingly.

"Hey, I'm TenTen."

"Seems too feminist. Next!" he called out as TenTen growled, trying to slice him with her knife and shouting the words, "FEMINIST? WHO'RE YOU CALLING FEMINIST?"

"So. Red, tan, yellow, or pink?"

"Tan."

Out came a girl with a giant fan on her back. Her hair was in four pigtails and she smirked at him.

"You're cute," she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"I feel like we're married somehow," Temari, the girl, said. "You know?"

"Hn."

"So…" she began.

"Next," Sasuke called. He turned to Naruto. "Really, Naruto? Don't you have anything better? I mean, I don't _want _to even be here, anyway."

Naruto groaned. "Sasuke, you need a girlfriend. You said so yourself! _I'd like to restore the clan_."

"Yeah, but…"

"But what, you pussy?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What were my other options again?"

"Red, yellow, pink."

"Fine." He looked up at Naruto's blonde hair and sighed. "Yellow."

A girl in a ponytail came out, trying to swish her hips. Sasuke took one look at her and frowned. "Nope."

"But—" the girl whined. For some reason, she reminded him of a pig.

"NEXT."

Naruto led the piggy away, giving Sasuke his last options. "Red or pink?"

"Red." He hated pink. It was so bright and frilly and…ugh.

A girl with glasses came out. She had bright red hair and matching eyes and glasses, so he assumed she was intellectual. He thought wrong.

"EEE!" she squealed as she jumped onto Sasuke's lap, throwing her arms around him. "You are _so _hot!"

"Get off!" he shouted, trying to push her. "NARUTO!"

Naruto tried to take the girl off his body, but she continued to cling onto him.

"Karin, stop! Bad dog!" Naruto shouted.

The girl stopped and turned to look at the blonde, growling.

"_What _did you just call me?" she asked, backing off from Sasuke to raise her fists at him.

"He called you a bitch," Sasuke said.

"W-What—" she turned at her potential boyfriend, who crossed his legs and folded his arms. "Why would you say that?"

"Because it's true. Next."

Naruto led the punching Karin away, screaming curses at both boys, before Naruto said, "It's just the pink one now. Take it or leave it."

"I'll leave it."

"Too bad! She's beautiful. I think you'll be happy with her. Sakura!" he called out. "Come out!"

Sasuke wasn't expecting what he saw. In front of him was a girl, her hair _pink_, but her smile gorgeous. And she looked so innocent and naïve, sort of different from the purple girl.

"Hi," she said, putting her hand out. "I'm Sakura."

He took it and liked how firm her handshake was. "Sasuke."

"The rest of the girls there are pretty upset with you," she said. "So I figure you might not give me that much time."

"Who said?" he asked, interested by this girl.

"You," she said with a sweet smile.

Sasuke was attracted to this girl's personality, not just her looks. He leaned closer to her, his elbows on his knees.

"What do you do?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you a student?"

Sakura smiled. "Graduate. I'm working on becoming a doctor at Konoha University under Tsunade-shishou."

"Wow. Smart, too."

She gave a nervous chuckle. "Thanks. So, what about you?"

"Freelancer."

"Oh!" she said. "That's cool."

By the tone of her voice, he knew that she was genuinely surprised and interested.

He smirked. "You're different."

"In…a good way?" she asked, her tone rising slightly.

"Hn." He nodded.

"Cool."

Standing up, he held out his hand for another handshake before slipping her a piece of paper.

"Call me," he said, heading out, dragging Naruto's arm with him.

"Hey, wait, teme—are you sure you don't want to see your other options again?"

"I'm sure." He nodded to Sakura. "I'll hear from you soon," he said, almost arrogantly.

Sakura stared down at the phone number in her hands and smiled.

* * *

**wtf did i just write**

**review**


	30. History

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o30: She dates Sai in order to forget about Sasuke. But he won't let her forget that they had history together.

* * *

**.o30.  
**_History_

He grabbed her arm forcefully and growled.

"Why are you dating _him_?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

She wrenched her arm away from him. "You don't own me! I can date whomever I want. Why do you care, anyway?"

He took her into his arms. "You might be dating him, as much as I hate to say it, but you have history with _me_." His tone softened and his eyes looked sad. He stroked her hair. "And I miss you."

Sakura swore to herself she wouldn't become infatuated with his charms. She did once. She wouldn't allow herself to do it again.

"I still love you," he murmured, his hands on her shoulders, leaning in for a kiss.

She woke to her senses and slapped him, leaving a bright red mark on his cheek.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted. "I'm happy with Sai now. And what happened before…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say. "Just…leave me alone, alright?"

"I can't do that," he said. "I'm going to take you back, Sakura."

She ran away before she could hear anything else.

.

.

.

It wasn't cheating or anything that broke them apart. It was just the fact of growing apart. Sasuke said less and less to her and Sakura tried to pry the information out of him, which he wouldn't give. They would just end up having rough sex on the floor as Sakura cried out more in pain due to the lack of foreplay.

Sakura admitted that she still felt feelings for him. Why else would she choose a new boyfriend that resembled her first love?

But it was too late for that. They had good times together. Some of the best in her life, and she knew that she would always cherish them. But right now, she was with Sai. And it should stay that way.

"Something wrong, Sakura?" Sai asked as he stopped in his track, looking over at his girlfriend. He squeezed her hand.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Just thinking about something."

"Thinking about what?"

"Nothing." She smiled before looking into Sai's eyes, his face suddenly morphing into Sasuke's. Her expression changed. Then, she held him tight to her and whispered, "Let's go to a hotel."

"Sakura—"

"Come on."

.

.

.

They had had sex before, but Sakura knew that it was nothing like Sasuke's burning touches and passionate kisses. Sai was gentle, but she didn't feel that same spark that she did when she made love with Sasuke.

Made love. Ha.

What she and Sasuke did was more like fucking. He could be gentle with her when he was in the mood, but even then, his movements lit her on fire. Sai, however, didn't make her feel _good_.

She felt pleasure. But it wasn't _pleasure_.

He was kissing her shoulder blades and moved down to her belly button when he noticed she wasn't responding.

"Sakura," he asked, removing his lips from her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I told you already," she said, trying to lead him back to her body.

"Something's wrong." He pushed himself off the bed. "What's bothering you?"

"I told you!" she said defensively. "Nothing!"

"I know when you're lying, Sakura. I'm not stupid."

She growled. "I never said you were."

Sai sighed, saying the worst thing that could come out of his mouth.

"Are you still in love with him?"

She'd rather have him ask if she was cheating on him. That probably would have been better. But she tried to say something. Nothing came out.

He looked at her. "You are," he said. It was a fact.

"I am," she said softly.

"Am I just a replacement for him?" he asked, obviously hurt.

Sakura didn't want to admit that yes, he was. But it was too late. Sai already knew the answer.

Stepping off the bed, he pulled on his shirt and shoes. "Goodbye, Sakura."

"Wait, Sai—"

He turned to look at her, before approaching her slowly and pressing his lips to her forehead. "I love you."

"Sai—"

The door closed.

.

.

.

Sakura was upset. She had lost her first love, her boyfriend, and was angry and disappointed at herself. Curling up into a ball on the bed, she cried, soaking the pillow with her tears. Then, she reached over for the phone on the hotel desk and paused, her fingers hovering over the numbers.

Her digits some began pressing the phone number she knew so well by heart. Putting it to her ear, she waited.

_Ring…_

_Ring…_

_Ring…_

It kept on ringing, and Sakura was afraid he might not answer. Before she hung up, she heard a "_Hello_?" on the end.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

"Sakura," he said, his voice surprised. "What are you calling me for?"

"I—" she began. Then, she started to cry again.

"Sakura, what's wrong? Are you alright? Where are you? I'll pick you up. Stay there."

"I—I…" she started, choking on her sobs. "I broke up with Sai."

She heard silence on the other line. "Where are you?" he asked.

"The hotel on the corner of Konoha. I'm on the fourth floor, room 412."

"Stay there."

He hung up.

.

.

.

Sakura heard pounding against the door less than fifteen minutes later and opened it up slowly, only to be held tightly to Sasuke's chest by surprise, the air knocked out of her.

"Sakura, you idiot," he muttered. "What happened?"

"I couldn't do it," she sobbed, clutching his shirt. "I couldn't."

"Couldn't do what?" he looked at the bed over her shoulder. "Did he force you to have sex with him?"

"No!" she said. "It's nothing like that. I just couldn't face the fact that I didn't have you anymore. All I wanted was you," she sobbed. "I love you."

He kissed her softly, his eyes warming up to hers. He pulled apart, one hand on her cheek.

"I've wanted to hear you say that forever," he said, his voice gentle. "And I want to make love to you and tell you all the things I couldn't say before when we were together."

"You wanted to tell me things?" she asked. "I thought you closed yourself off from me."

"I had so much to tell you," he said, stroking her hair. "But I couldn't find the words for it."

She pulled him to the bed before he stopped.

"No," he said. "I'm not going to make love to you where another guy wanted to. We're going home."

"Home?" she asked.

"Yeah." He took her in his arms. "Where we make history."

* * *

**i love saisaku, but sasusaku is my OTP**

**omg poor sai i use him as the kick around doll ALL the time**


	31. Festive

**title: **7:31  
**prompt: **SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012  
**rating: **T-M

**summary: **o31: Sakura wants to see the fireworks with Sasuke. And little by little, their chemistry grows.

* * *

**.o31.  
**_Festive_

"Come on, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura giggled as she pulled her teammate's hand in her own. "Let's go watch the fireworks!"

Sasuke sighed, following after her. His sandals were hard to run in and the yukata he wore made him keep tripping over his feet. He didn't understand how girls like Sakura were able to run freely as if they were wearing jeans and sneakers.

"It's going to start soon," she said, crowding around with everyone else to see when the dark sky would explode in a kaleidoscope of colors. "I can't wait. Oh! Look over there!" she said, pointing to the opposite direction of where they were facing. "It's Naruto! Naruto!" she called out.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't bother them," he said, observing at how he was cuddling with Hinata. Sasuke knew that he didn't know a lot about love, he but he knew enough not to interrupt someone when they _were _in love.

"Ah, I see." She turned back to Sasuke. "So, Sasuke-kun. Isn't this exciting? Fun activities, good food, friends…"

"Hn."

"You're such a killjoy," she said, slapping him playfully.

"Hn."

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued to wait for the first spark that would explode in the air. She was standing on her tiptoes, trying to see past the crowd of taller people. Sasuke sighed, picked her up, and put her over his shoulder so that she was taller than everyone there. He held her legs to his chest so that she wouldn't fall, and she put her hands on his shoulders.

"Sasuke-kun!" she squealed. "What are you doing?"

"You can't see, so I'm helping you," he said. "Stop moving. You're going to kill us both."

"This is so embarrassing!" she said, blushing madly.

"You want to get off?" he asked, letting go of her legs.

"No!" She held on to him. "Thanks," she said softly.

"Hn."

She continued to wait for the fireworks when she leaned down and whispered, "Sasuke-kun, do you ever wish that you could be like a firework?"

"Like Katy Perry?"

"No, I mean," she began, laughing. "You appear in the sky and wow people, right? But you slowly disappear right after. Then you're replaced with a new firework. But if you're the kind of firework that really _wows _people, they're going to remember you even through the other fireworks. You know what I mean?"

"Hn."

"Funny," she said sarcastically. "But really."

"Yeah."

"I want to be like a firework," she said. "I want people to remember me for what I've done even after I'm long gone."

Sasuke was silent. "I think you will, Sakura," he said.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah."

She put her hands in his hair and massaged his scalp slightly, fiddling with his black locks.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She took her hands off, embarrassed.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's fine," he said. "It feels good. Put them back."

Surprised, Sakura did as she was told. She took Sasuke's hair in her hands and attempted to braid the short, layered locks.

"Are you…braiding my hair?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"A little short for that, don't you think?"

Sakura laughed, fluffing out his chicken locks. "I don't know. I got _something_."

He tried to feel the braid but couldn't find it anywhere. Then, he heard people_ oohing _and _ahhing_.

"Sasuke-kun! It's starting!" she said, her hands on his shoulders. "I'm so excited!"

A blast of light appeared into the sky, exploding into an array of gold and purple sparkles. Sakura smiled, looking over at Naruto and Hinata, who were kissing. The fireworks almost looked like them.

Soon, many more began to come. A collection of red, green, orange, and other miscellaneous colors shone in the air.

"Look, Sasuke-kun!" she said, pointing to the air. He looked up to see a display of pink and blue together, almost mingled into one. "It's so pretty!"

Then, Sakura screamed, feeling herself falling. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, but opened them slowly to find herself in Sasuke's arms.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked.

"Be quiet," he said. They continued to look up. The pink and blue fireworks were still lasting the longest and caught everyone's eye as they took pictures.

"Doesn't it remind you of us?" she asked. "I have pink hair, and you have…bluish hair?"

"A little bit," he said. "But look. Everyone likes the pink one. Why is that?"

"Maybe because it's pretty?" she asked.

"I don't think so. I think it's because it's the most different." He looked down at Sakura, who was in his arms. "In a good way."

He put her down back on her feet and she put her hands on his chest.

"Sasuke-kun…" she said softly, not looking up at him. Then, quickly, he felt her lips against his cheek and then nothing. Sakura continued to look down at her feet, her blush still visible under the light of the night sky.

"So the pink firework likes the blue," he mentioned, tipping Sakura's chin up. "Do you think the blue one likes the pink, too?"

"I guess so," she said, still red. "I mean, why else are they together?"

"Maybe because opposites attract."

"Maybe."

He looked into her eyes and he saw that she closed hers, leaning in. He began to close his too before he heard a "TEME! SAKURA-CHAN!" from the opposite direction.

Both of them suddenly opened their eyes to see Naruto and Hinata waving at them. "HEY! Didn't see you there!"

"And you told me _not _to bother them," Sakura grumbled, taking Sasuke's hand and leading them to her friends. "Hey, Hinata!" she said, ignoring Naruto.

Sasuke tripped over his yukata and sandals as he tried to keep up with Sakura. The two girls talked eagerly as Naruto elbowed Sasuke playfully.

"Hey, teme, those last fireworks—the pink and blue ones, they reminded me of you and Sakura-chan!"

"Hn."

"Oh, come on. You have to admit they resembled you guys a _little bit_."

"Not in the least."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I don't know. They seemed to have chemistry together. Just like you guys do. And don't think that I didn't see her braid your hair, because I did!"

Sasuke frowned.

* * *

**based on a LOT of sasusaku pictures on deviantart where htey're in kimonos and stuff and it's like new years or whatever**

**sort of inspired by katy perry's firework LOL**

**LAST ONE FINALLY DONE**

**REVIEW PLEASE THANKS I LOVE YOU FOR READING**

**btw, to the guest reply: sakura wasn't dating sasuke at that time so she could have sex with whomever she wanted. it's like that in real life too. thanks for your review!**


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